Heavy rains lashing the coastal districts in Karnataka took the life of one more person in Udupi district on Wednesday taking the death toll to two ever since the rains began earlier this week.
The incident occurred despite the rains receding in the district on Wednesday.
Santhoor Poojary, a resident of Siddapura in Kundapur taluk of Udupi was washed away in the rain in his village.
"In all, two persons have died due to the rains. We are on alert for the situation worsening and are ready with boats to evacuate residents." Bhoobalan, Assistant Commissioner, Kundapur told TNM.
"Rescue operations in the district were restricted to a few places near Kota. We had set up a number of relief camps in and around Kundapur but people are now slowly leaving them", said
The rainfall recorded in Udupi from 8:30am on August 14 to 8:30am on August 15 was 106.60mm, little less than thrice the normal.
On Monday, in the same taluk one Raghuram Shetty (56), a resident of Idurkunjadu village died after he was struck by the branch of a tree near a pond at his residence.
The situation was similar in Dakshina Kannada where relief camps were set up in areas in Bantwal taluk. However the rains receded on Wednesday and is expected to clear up after Thursday according to the KSNDMC.
At Kodagu, the water level at Laxman Thirtha, and has already risen to a dangerous level. The district administration along with Revenue department is already evacuating people in the low lying areas to evacuate. Hundreds of people (60-70 families) are being provided meals at Ganji Kendra. Due to tree fall several areas have been cut off leading to Mangaluru especially in Bhagamandala area.
Meanwhile in shivamogga, a bridge in Eesuru in Shikaripura taluk was submerged by the rains. All dams in the district are releasing water as they are close to the maximum limit
Heavy rains are likely to continue for the next two days.
In the light of more rain forecasted Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has directed DCs of Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga districts to be on high alert. After taking stock of situation, Chief Minister has directed them to take preventive measures to avoid major mishaps due to flood, landslide etc. and be prepared to take up relief works on time. \
He has also directed District in charge Secretaries to visit the districts and keep vigil on the loss due to rain. Chief Minister has also appealed to all concerned district in charge ministers to review the situations in their respective districts.
Due to the heavy rains, landslides were reported since Monday in several parts of the state, particularly on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route, leading to several state run buses and trains suspending their services from Tuesday night.