Heavy rain floods in Karnataka's Kodagu, roads collapse, power cut; farmers resume work

MADIKERI: Heavy rains caused flooding, damaged houses, and uprooted trees in Kodagu.Rainfall in the last 24 hours across the district decreased compared to previous days. The district experienced a slight reduction in rain after four days of heavy downpour.

While Friday night brought rain, there were intermittent periods of sunshine during Saturday, followed by light showers.A road overpass collapsed in Kumaralli Bachalli village, Shantalli hobli, causing a power disruption due to a broken electricity pole on the Kundalli-Pushpagiri road. Another road overpass collapsed near the Chinnar Colony connecting bridge in Nittur village. Officials conducted an inspection.Walls of two houses in Devamachi Colony, Devarapur Gram Panchayat, also collapsed.Meanwhile, waterfalls in the Western Ghats region are attracting tourists. Mallalli Waterfall on the Kumaradhara River, Abhimat Bachalli Waterfall, Jnanaganga Waterfall, Medura Waterfall, and Chorana Waterfalls have come alive.The average rainfall in Kodagu from January to date is 1,400 mm, while last year, the same period saw 740 mm of rainfall.

This year’s total is thus double that of last year.Farmers in Kushalnagara taluk are engaged in agricultural activities. As the rain lessened, farmers cultivating maize, ginger, and sweet potatoes began working in their fields, including applying fertiliser to maize and ginger crops, treating the soil at the base, weeding, and threshing maize with bullocks.Agricultural work on major crops has already started in more than 45 sub-villages under eight gram panchayats of Kushalnagara taluk. Farmers in the area are busy completing fieldwork before the rains increase again.