Heavy rain on Monday night resulted in at least two taluks of Dharwad being affected severely where the Benne Halla and the Tuppari Halla are in spate forcing the district administration to declare holidays for schools and colleges for a day in the two taluks on Tuesday.
The downpour caused inundation in Annigeri town, flooding in Shiraguppi, Kiresur, Ingalahalli and other villages due to streams being in spate.
According to initial reports, the downpour caused damage to houses, standing crops and damaged roads badly. In two places, road connectivity has been severed due to roads caving in because of floods.
Due to a spate in the Benne Halla, the approach road to a bridge near Basapur on Annigeri-Navalgund Road has caved in forcing closure of the road for traffic. Another road connecting Navalgund and Ron has caved in near Shalavadi village severing connectivity between Navalgund and Shalavadi.
In Kiresur village, rainwater has entered around 200 houses and the government school building. In Chikkanarti village, several houses have been inundated and residents kept awake throughout the night.
The famous Amrutheshwar Temple in Annigeri town is inundated, along with several localities in the town. Seeking a permanent solution, residents of the town, led by the former MLA N.H. Konaraddi and Congress leader Vinod Asuti and others, staged a road block in Annigeri for an hour. They prepared tea and Uppittu on the road itself and distributed them to the public to register their protest.
Subsequently, Deputy Commissioner Gurudutta Hegde, Superintendent of Police Lokesh Jagalasar and others visited the town, inspected the damage and assured remedial action within a week, following which the protestors dispersed.
Earlier, addressing the protestors, Mr. Konaraddi demanded immediate release of compensation towards house damage and crop loss.
Minister visits
Following floods in the Benne Halla and the Tuppari Halla, Minister for Handloom, Textiles and Sugar Shankar Patil Munenakoppa visited the flood-affected villages and promised immediate action and relief.
He told presspersons that downpour in the district and also neighbouring districts had caused floods. In the last couple of days, 34 persons were stranded due to downpour and of these, 32 have been rescued. While one person died, a search for the other is under way, he said.
Mr. Munenakoppa said that residents had demanded shifting of government schools located near streams and this will be looked into.
He said that rehabilitation centres have been set up at Kiresur, Ingalahalli, Annigeri and Mantur and a few more such centres will be set up wherever they are required. At present, around 30 people have taken shelter at Kiresur rehabilitation centre.
He also promised GPS-based survey to ensure requisite compensation to farmers for crop loss.
The Minister said that already a ₹312-crore project for development of the Tuppari Halla has been floated and a similar project will be chalked out for the Benne Halla.
