Weather / IMD issues red alert with heavy rainfall forecast in 7 K'taka districts

Bengaluru: Heavy rain was witnessed across several parts of Karnataka on Wednesday, throwing life out of gear in districts in southern, northern, and coastal regions.

Kodagu has been on the edge with incessant rain battering the district since the last few days. This is the third year in a row that the district is receiving heavy rainfall in August after a weak spell of monsoon in June and July. Kodagu district received 269 mm of rainfall since August 1 as against a normal of 120 mm for the same period, which is 124% above the long term average, as per the KSNDMC report.

Heavy to extreme heavy

The India Meteorological Department has issued red alert in Kodagu, Shivamogga, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Uttara Kannada, Udupi, and Dakshina Kannada and has forecast very heavy to extreme heavy rain over coastal and Malnad districts of the State.

Interior parts of Kodagu have been disconnected due to disruption in transportation caused by overflowing rivers and rivulets, while uprooted trees and electricity poles have blocked the roads in many parts of the district. Around 20 families have been evacuated to a relief centre in Virajpet. The Cauvery was overflowing at Triveni Sangama and road connectivity linking Bhagamandala with Madikeri and Napoklu was disrupted.

The outflow from the Harangi reservoir was stepped up and discharge was at the rate of 10,689 cusecs, which will augment the inflow into the KRS dam that is located in the downstream.

The outflow from the Kabini reservoir at H.D. Kote in Mysuru district was increased from nearly 20,000 cusecs on Tuesday to over 50,600 cusecs on Wednesday. The authorities said the water level in the dam was 2,280 feet against the full reservoir level of 2,284 feet.

Malnad region

Normal life in many parts of Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga has been badly hit following incessant rain since the last four days. Many villages have lost road connectivity after hundreds of trees have been uprooted.

The rivers are in spate and inflow to the reservoir has been on the rise, while other waterbodies are overflowing. Some of the worst affected regions include parts of Hosanagara, Thirthahalli, Sagar, Soraba, Sringeri, Mudigere, Koppa, N.R. Pura, Sakleshpur, and Alur taluks.

Travellers on the Charmadi Ghat had a tough time as trees that had fallen on the road obstructed their movement. Landslips have been reported on the road connecting Kalasa and Kudremukh in Mudigere taluk.

Shivamogga district registered an average rainfall of 73 mm against the normal of 22 mm on the day. In Hassan, the average rainfall was 39 mm, while the normal was 8 mm. Chikkamagaluru district registered 66 mm of rainfall against the normal of 17 mm. In the first two months of monsoon – June and July – the rainfall was deficit.

Maharashtra impact

In north Karnataka, Belagavi district on the first five days of August received 650 mm rainfall against the average of 46 mm for the period. Of this, 253 mm was received on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Making matters worse, heavy rain in south Maharashtra led to release of water into the Krishna and its tributaries. Maharashtra released around 48,500 cusecs of water into the Krishna and tributaries. This increased water level in the seven rivers and tributaries in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts, resulting in several bridges being inundated.

The water levels in Almatti dam has been increasing steadily.