Red alert issued in two Karnataka districts as heavy rain hits some parts

The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued a red alert for heavy rainfall in the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, The Indian Express reported.

Other parts of coastal and south Karnataka are also expected to experience heavy rainfall over the next few days due to southwest monsoon, the weather department said.

The southern part of Karnataka received heavy rainfall on Monday too. Panambur, Kota and Bhagamandala towns received the highest, 9 cm rainfall, according to Bangalore Mirror. Mangaluru and Agumbe witnessed 8 cm rainfall.

Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts have reported incidents of trees being uprooted, damage to houses and electric polls, and loss of mobile network over the last two days.

The Maravoor bridge in Mangaluru, which connects to the Mangaluru International airport, developed a crack due to heavy rain last night.

“[A] low pressure had developed over Jharkhand and its neighbourhoods, while a trough ran from East Central Arabian Sea to south Konkan,” CS Patil, the head of Bengaluru centre of the India Meteorological Department, told The Indian Express. “There was another low-pressure zone near the Karnataka coast. Due to its influence, heavy rainfall has been predicted in the coastal areas.”

Apart from the red alert in the two districts on Tuesday, an orange alert has also been issued in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada for June 16 and 17, and a yellow alert for June 18. On June 17, an orange alert has been issued for Shivamogga, Kodagu, Gadag and Haveri districts also.

A red alert is issued to ask district authorities to “take action”, an orange alert to “stay prepared”, while yellow alert asks them to “be aware”.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with officials on Tuesday to take stock of the preparedness for the monsoon season, ANI reported.