39 perish as rains pound Karnataka

Heavy and incessant rains lashing severaldistricts of Karnataka during the last two days haveso far claimed a total of 39 lives, besides leaving atrail of misery and destruction in its wake.

With the downpour continuing unabated in several partsof north Karnataka including districts of Belgaum,Bijapur, Raichur, Bagalkot and Gulbarga, besidesKodagu, on account of the deep depression in the Bayof Bengal, several villages were marooned and hundredsof houses collapsed, causing widespread destruction ofproperty and displacement of people.

At least 13 persons, including five children, havebeen killed in three instances of house collapse inthe rain-battered districts of Bagalkot, Raichur andBijapur.

Three persons were washed away in the flash floods inDoni, a tributary of Krishna river, flowing throughBijapur and Gulbarga. With the tributary flowing abovethe danger level, the inhabitants of the villagesalong its banks have been evacuated to safer places.Fifteen villages in Bijapur had already been submergedand two persons, who were trapped in their maroonedhouse in Kotyal village in the district, were washedaway.

Five college-going girls, who were waiting for a busto return home, died on the spot when a coconut treefell on them inside the Hassan bus stand.Rain related deaths have also been reported fromKodagu, Bellary, Shimoga, Karwar and Koppal, besidesBangalore, where a road transport authority officialdied on the spot when a huge branch of a tree crashedon the autorickshaw he was travelling in.

One person died in Kutta in Kodagu district when atree fell on the truck in which he was sleeping. Manyparts of Kodagu, including its district headquartersof Madikeri, remained plunged in darkness for thethird day on Sunday as the power supply, which wentout on Friday could not be restored.

Normal life in many parts of north Karnataka includingGulbarga and Bijapur had been thrown out of gear asbridges and roads had been washed away in the rain.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has conveneda high-level meeting in Bangalore on Monday to takestock of the situation. He has already spoken to theDeputy Commissioner’s of the rain-hit areas andcollected information on the havoc caused by thetorrential downpour.

He has directed the officials to pay compensation tothe families of persons killed in the rains and beginrelief operations on a “war-footing”. Officials ofnorth Karnataka districts, which have bore the bruntof the rain fury, have been directed to open gruelcentres for the benefit of the thousands of people,who had been displaced.