Karnataka Floods: 24 Dead, 2.43 Lakh Rescued & More Rain Predicted

Video editor: Varun Sharma

Twenty four people, including two teenagers, have lost their lives in the floods in northern parts of Karnataka, till Saturday, 10 August. Nine have been reported missing.

A joint rescue team of the Indian Army, NDRF, SDRF and fire department have rescued more than 2.43 lakh people across the state as of Saturday morning and 664 relief camps have been set up across these regions to rehabilitate them.

Severe floods have affected two regions of Karnataka – districts in northern Karnataka and districts in the coastal region to the west.

Meanwhile, state Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa has said that Rs 100 cr was released on Friday to tackle the floods and government employees have pledged a day’s salary to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

He added that 14,000 houses, 3.75 lakh hectare crop area and 478 km of power lines were damaged in the floods. The water is likely to recede in two-to-three days.

On Thursday he had made a fervent appeal to the people to donate generously, saying at least Rs 5,000 crore would be required for relief and rehabilitation in flood-hit and rain-affected areas.

Flooding in north Karnataka has been triggered by the heavy inflow of water from the neighbouring state of Maharashtra. Heavy downpour in the region in the past few days further increased the water levels in the region.

The coastal and Malnad regions saw heavy rains, resulting in floods. With the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 3-4 days, the coastal and Malnad districts are bracing for severe flooding.

The heavy rain and inflow has resulted in Krishna river overflowing, causing heavy damage. In the past few days, other rivers like Markandeya, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha and Bheema rivers too began overflowing, worsening the situation.

Following the floods, Dakshina Kannada, Belagavi, Kodagu and Dharwad districts announced that schools and colleges would remain closed for 2-3 days.

Belagavi Worst Hit in Northern Region

In the northern districts of Karnataka, the Joint rescue team comprising of Fire and Emergency, SDRF, NDRF and army have evacuated 77,761 people and shifted them to 467 temporary relief camps.

A total of 732 villages have been affected by rain.

Belagavi district was one of the worst affected districts in north Karnataka region. Out the 40,960 rescued in this region, 40,180 people were from Belagavi district alone. And out of the 14,775 people shifted to relief camps, 12,606 are from Belagavi.

The district also saw massive infrastructure damages as well. According to an official report, 1,410 kms of road, 211 bridges, six government buildings, 22 water supply infrastructure and 2,571 electrical poles have been damaged.

Coastal and Malnad Region

The districts of coastal and Malnad regions of Karnataka too are reeling under incessant rains. 283 villages have been affected and 3,788 people have been rescued from Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts. Out of these, 2,100 people have been shifted to 80 relief camps.

In Kodagu, where landslides resulted in 16 deaths last year, fresh landslides were reported over the last few days, especially in Madikeri and Suntikoppa areas. The landslides and uprooted trees have also damaged stretches of NH 66, NH 275 and SH-91.

Army and Air Force Deployed

Gauging the severity of the situation, 600 personnel of the Indian Army have been deployed in the region. While the columns from Maratha Light Infantry comprising of 400 personnel from engineering task force are deployed in Belagavi district, units of Artillery Center, Hyderabad (Rescue team and Engineering task force) have been deployed in Raichur and Bagalkot districts.

The Indian Air Force has provided two helicopters from the rescue work; however, they remained grounded due to bad weather.

Apart from this, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 180 personnel and four more additional teams have mobilised from Andhra Pradesh.

Reservoir Levels Dangerously High

North Karnataka’s Almatti dam released a record 4.4 lakh cusec litres of water as of Wednesday. This large release of water is attributed to the inflow from Maharashtra and the heavy rain flow in the region. The outflow of the reservoirs in the highest in last 14 years, said officials.

However, authorities said that release of water from the reservoirs are well-coordinated to avoid flooding.

With the inflow from Maharashtra not showing a drastic reduction and heavy rains predicted for few more days, state administration is bracing for the flood situation to worsen in the coming days.