There was no reprieve from incessant rains in the Mysuru-Mandya belt on Thursday and normal life was thrown out of gear while Kodagu continued to feel the brunt of monsoon.
Chembu in Madikeri taluk of Kodagu district received 191.5 mm of rainfall which was the highest for the State for the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.
There are reports of roads and compounds caving in due to heavy rains in Kodagu while the approach road to the bridge at Marapadaka near Chembu has been damaged. A portion of the Urabailu-Marapadaka bridge has been washed away.
Kodagu is witnessing torrential rains in the since the last few days but rainfall in the district is categorised as Normal. It has received 1518 mm of rainfall from June 1 to August 4, which is 2 per cent above normal, according to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
The Indian Meteorological Department and the KSNDMC have declared a red alert for Kodagu till Friday even as authorities grapple to clear the roads blocked by trees and landslips for traffic movement.
A team deployed to clear the road of mud and boulders at Bhagamandala was finding it difficult to complete the work due to incessant flow of water from the mountains.
Apart from Chembu, heavy rains were reported from Napoklu (120.40 mm), Sampaje (105.50 mm) and Bhagamandala (97.60 mm), according to the Kodagu district administration.
Signalling the second spell of vigorous monsoon, the cumulative rainfall in Mysuru-Mandya-Chamarajanagar belt since the onset of south west monsoon in June till August 4 is under ‘’Large Excess’’ category.
The KSNDMC describes the situation as Large Excess if the rainfall is 60 per cent or above the long-term normal while Excess is when the rainfall is 20 per cent to 59 per cent above normal.
Mysuru has received 383.2 mm of rains from June 1 to August 4 and this is 67 per cent above normal. Chamarajanagar has received 254.2 mm of rainfall which is 93 per cent above normal while Mandya has received 425.7 mm of rainfall which is 243 per cent above normal, according to KSNDMC.
During the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Thursday, Mysuru received 15 mm of rainfall against a normal of 4 mm and the distribution has been widespread and uniform. Mandya received 16 mm of rainfall during the same period against a normal of 3 mm and it was a respite from the Monday night rains. The district received 52 mm of rainfall against a normal of 2 mm and marooned vast swathe of agricultural land besides inundating low lying areas and highways.
Chamarajanagar received 7 mm of rains against a normal of 3 mm for the 24 hour-period ending 8.30 a.m. of Thursday but the cumulative rainfall during the last 7 days is 91 mm against a normal of 15 mm and has affected agricultural activity and standing crops.
Meanwhile the Chamarajanagar district administration has declared a holiday for all schools and anganwadis on August 5 and 6 due to heavy rains forecast for the district during the next 48 hours.
