Rivers cross danger mark, people reach gruel centres

MANGALURU

: As many as 539 people from 101 houses living along or close to the

Nethravathi river bank

were shifted to safer places by the Dakshina Kannada district administration.


This follows an increase in water flowing into the river after torrential rain in the upper reaches of the district, especially the Western Ghats. Villagers were shifted from five areas near Pane Mangalore, three in B Mooda Village, one each from the villages of Barimaru, Thumbe, B Kasaba and Navoor.

Around 152 have taken shelter in gruel centres in Sri Sharada High School, Pane Mangalore, Old Inspection Bungalow, Bantwal Kasaba Village and Zilla Panchayat School, Navoor. The maximum number of 105 people were shifted from Nandarabettu of B Mooda village.

GHAT ROADS CLEARED
Work on clearing the Shiradi Ghat section of the Bengaluru-Mangaluru national highway was going on at a furious pace with the National Highway division deploying all resources to clear debris and landslides on the road. The district administration has banned movement of all vehicles on Shiradi Ghat till August 25.

On Friday too, movement between the state capital and coast was severely hampered with KSRTC operating skeletal premium services on the SK Border, Kalasa, Kottigehara routes. KSRTC divisional controller Deepak Kumar said the movement of premium buses on the SK Border route was experimental and Volvo buses would ply only during the day.

The Charmadi Ghat route is the only one available for KSRTC buses and light motor vehicles, with both alternative routes of Shiradi and Sampaje being closed to traffic. Only non-AC sleeper Rajahamsa and Express buses would ply over the Charmadi route.

ROAD TO KUKKE OPENS

Connectivity to the famous pilgrimage centre, Kukke Subrahmanya, was cut off from the rest of the district on Thursday, but was restored on Friday after waters receded on the Gundya-Subrahmanya Road around 6am. On Thursday, heavy rain in the ghats caused the Kumaradhara river to swell and all major bridges connecting Kukke at Kalmakaru, Balugodu, Guthigaru, Balpa, Yenekal and Panja, went under water.

Barring Gundya-Subrahmanya road, others roads were not motorable, and was covered with debris and muck. The Subrahmanya-Sullia road to Madikeri also caved in at Kallaje, 6km from Subrahmanya, and only small vehicles could move on the road.