Rains continued to wreak havoc in Ballari and Vijayanagara districts on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning killing an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and damaging 166 houses.
As per information provided by local authorities, Umadevi Balaganur Jadeppa (44), an ASHA working at Emmiganur village in Kampli taluk of Ballari district, was killed after the mud wall of her house collapsed on her late on Tuesday night. The villagers said she died on the spot while her husband Jadeppa and children Darshan and Sridhar managed to escape the tragic incident. Many houses in Krishna Nagar camp in the taluk were also flooded.
As many as 132 houses have been damaged in Vijayanagara district. Huvina Hadagali taluk was the worst-hit with 108 houses reporting damage followed by Harapanahalli (16), Kottur (6) and Hagari Bommanahalli (2). In Ballari district, 34 houses have been damaged with Kampli taluk alone reporting damage to 26 houses.
Tungabhadra floods farm fields
In Vijayanagara district, Huvina Hadagali taluk recorded a rainfall of 49.6 mm followed by Telgi Kottur (40.4 mm), Kudligi (14.5 mm) and Hosapete (14.2 mm). In Ballari district, Kampli taluk recorded a rainfall of 42.6 mm followed by Kurugodu (34.2 mm), Ballari (26.6 mm) and Sandur (26 mm).
Since the Tungabhadra catchment area received a good rainfall, the inflow into the Tungabhadra Reservoir near Hosapete in Vijayanagara district has increased to around one lakh cusecs. The dam authorities were maintaining the discharge of the same amount of water as the reservoir was full. The overflowing Tungabhadra flooded farm fields and destroyed standing crops downstream along its course. The Kampli-Gangavathi bridge was almost submerged in the flood waters.
The Doddakere lake at Arsikere in Harapanahalli taluk began overflowing after 22 years. The traffic movement on Mailara-Toranagallu State Highway in Huvina Hadagali was disrupted for many hours as the flood water flowed on the road.