Karnataka’s Coast On Red Alert As ‘Record’ Rains Leave Cities Flooded

Schools across the coastal districts of Karnataka have been asked to declare holidays as the state is expected to see two more days of heavy rains. But colleges which had already given holidays have been asked to reopen from today.

This comes in the wake of severe rains lashing the state over the last one week leaving various villages and cities flooded. Red alert has been announced in the three coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada upto Tuesday (12 July) and orange alert for the next two days. A record and relentless 20 cm rain has been reported in the coastal districts with instances of coastal erosion recorded at various places.

As reported, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said a total of 12 people have lost their lives so far owing to the rains since June 1 upto Friday.

Netravathi river has been flowing above danger levels of 8.5 metre on Sunday and people have been evacuated to safer places, while most inter-district roads in the region have been submerged with people resorting to the use of boats for movement.

The nearby towns of the Western Ghats including Shivamogga, Chikamagaluru and Kodagu too have been issued an orange alert with the district administrations declaring holidays for schools in order to avoid inconvenience for students as flooding and landslides have been reported across the region. The Agumbe ghats have been witnessing landslides blocking routes and disrupting movement of traffic. Heavy vehicle movement on the route has now been prohibited.

To add to the woes of people, earthquakes have been reported over the last few days in the region, the latest being on Sunday. Tremors were felt in the border areas of Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada on Sunday morning where people woke up to the feeling of earth shaking for the eighth time this week.