Incessant rains wreak havoc in Malnad region; normal life thrown out of gear

Incessant rains wreak havoc in Malnad region, causing floods, landslides, power outages, and traffic disruptions, prompting red alert.

Incessant rains continue to batter several parts of the Malnad region, affecting normal life on Monday. Roads remain inundated, traffic movement continues to be slow and many areas plunge into darkness at night owing to disruption in power supply as electricity poles were uprooted due to gusty winds.

In the 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Monday, the Malnad region received an average of 47 mm of rainfall, against the normal range of 5 mm.

The average rainfall in Shivamogga was 29 mm, against the normal range of 4 mm. In Hassan, the average rainfall was recorded at 43 mm, against 5.3 mm, which is the normal range. Chikkamagaluru district recorded an average rainfall of 35.5 mm, while the normal expected on the day was 4.2 mm.

Hongadahalla in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district recorded 229.5 mm rainfall, which is the second highest recorded in the State on the day. Birumani in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district recorded 275 mm, the highest on the day.

Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre has sounded a red alert for the Malnad districts till Tuesday morning.

The incessant downpour has resulted in landslips in Shiradi Ghat (NH-75) that connects Bengaluru and Mangaluru. Thousands of vehicles ply on the road every day. For the last two days, the movement of vehicles has been hit badly. Many vehicles were stuck in the highway for hours.

The local authorities managed the traffic by allowing vehicles one-way, as a result, the passengers took longer time to cross the stretch.