As many as 38 people have been died and 35 injured in rain-related incidents such as waterlogging, lightning strike, house collapse, tree fall and landslides in the Karnataka state since June 1, the state government said on Wednesday.
According to the state government, 57 houses were completely damaged, 208 houses were severely damaged and 2,682 houses were partially damaged.
Meanwhile, 105 cattle died due to the rain. As of Wednesday, 541.39 hectares of agricultural crops were flooded, including 185 hectares of agricultural crops and 356 hectares of horticultural crops.
Furthermore, 2109 km of roads were damaged, of which 407 km were state highways and 1277 km were district and rural roads. According to the state government, 189 bridges, 889 school rooms, 8 primary centers and 269 Anganwadi centers were damaged.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a video call with District Collectors and Zilla panchayat CEOs to review the weather, rainfall and agricultural activities in the state.
Siddaramaiah emphasized on precautionary measures to avoid death and damage due to rain and suggested that the district administration should do more in this regard.
“Many farmers cannot be displaced when floods occur. Make arrangements to relocate as soon as flooding is forecast. People are widely complaining that the houses built as alternatives by the previous government are not suitable for anyone to live in,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that more emphasis should be placed on preventive measures.
The chief minister directed the district administration to take measures to prevent people from going near the water bodies if the water rises. He said people should be warned about it and work should be done to create awareness to prevent loss of life.
Pointing out that the possibility of landslides is known in advance, Siddaramaiah said, “To some extent, the authorities have advance information about the places where landslides may occur. Loss of life can be avoided if there is coordination between the police, revenue, irrigation and rural development departments.”
The Chief Minister directed the concerned authorities to hold daily press conferences on the possibility of rains. “People should be advised not to drive to slippery places and not to cross overflowing rivers. More efforts need to be made to prevent deaths,” he added.
According to the state government, Karnataka experienced a 56% rainfall deficit in June due to Cyclone Biparjoy. However, 313 mm of rainfall fell in July, which is 37% more than normal rainfall.
From June 1 till now, four districts have received heavy rainfall, 21 districts have received normal rainfall and six districts are deficient in rainfall, the state government said.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall in the coastal region of Karnataka and issued a red alert till Thursday morning. The MeT department has also issued an orange warning predicting extremely heavy rainfall and a yellow warning predicting heavy rainfall for three districts – Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada.
