Heavy rain causes havoc in Venoor and Hosangady in Dakshina Kannada district of coastal Karnataka

The Belthangady-Venoor State Highway was under water till early on August 1.

Heavy rains since July 31 night caused havoc in Venoor and Hosangady on the foothills of the Western Ghats, in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada district in Karnataka.

Water from Hosangady and Venoor rivers, which are the tributaries of Phalguni river, entered more than 20 houses in Hosangady, Badakodi and Maroor villages. Many houses and buildings were filled with sludge. A minor bridge at Malady-Sonandur village was washed away.

“There was a cloudburst-like situation,” former Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Vice-President P. Dharanendra Kumar told The Hindu over phone from Hosangady village. The rains began around 7 p.m. on July 31 and lasted till 4 a.m. on August 1, he said.

Mr. Kumar said that the Belthangady-Venoor State Highway was under water till early on August 1.

Sheshappa Naik from Badakodi village said there was chest deep water in his house. He lost 500 coconuts and about 300 bags of manure.

“According to some elders in my village, this is the first time since 1974 that this area witnessed such a severe kind of flood due to heavy rains in the Western Ghats. They recall that in 1937 too there was a similar kind of flood,” he said.

Anil Naik from Badakodi village told over phone that water had entered his house at 9.30 p.m. on July 31 and receded at 3 a.m. on August 1. “We shifted our cattle to a safer place. Our paddy field is completely damaged,” he said.