Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who conducted an aerial survey of flood-affected north Karnataka on Monday, will also soon visit Kodagu, which has been pounded by rain over the past few days.

Disclosing this to reporters on Tuesday, former Speaker and MLA for Virajpet K.G. Bopaiah said the Chief Minister was keeping tabs on the rain situation in the district. He was Mr. Yediyurappa had recently convened a meeting in Bengaluru with elected representatives from Kodagu to discuss the reconstruction of the district, which was ravaged by floods and landslips last year. He said the CM has sanctioned ₹540 crore for this. The houses built for flood-affected persons will be handed over soon, he added.

Mr. Bopaiah visited the flood-affected Bhagamandala with officials and assessed the situation with Triveni Sangam overflowing. The Bhagamandala-Madikeri Road and Bhagamandala-Ayyengeri Road have been closed to traffic. “There is a need to build a bridge across the river at Bhagamandala and efforts will be made to complete it by next year so that traffic is not disrupted by heavy rains again.”

Expert swimmers and divers have been deployed in Bhagamandala along with inflatable boats for emergency operations. “All precautionary measures are in place,” he said.

Compared to last year, the intensity of monsoon in Kodagu is low this year. However, the district has received incessant rain for a week.

Bridge needed

Mr. Bopaiah, who visited the site where a portion of Virajpet-Makutta Road caved in on Monday, said a bridge would be built across Kootuhole rivulet by the end of this year. In the next two or three days, the road will be thrown open to traffic even as repair work will be taken up.

The road stretch had slipped even during last year’s floods and permanent works are to be taken up for preventing this as it is a major inter-State road link to Kerala. Traffic density on the road has been on the rise following the opening of Kannur International Airport.

Madikeri taluk has recorded 95.10 mm of rain since Sunday. On August 6 last year, it had recorded 2.88 mm of rain. Virajpet taluk recorded 77.92 mm of rain, as against 2.97 mm last year, while in Somwarpet, it was 57.89 mm as opposed to 8.67 mm last year.

From January to date, the district has recorded 1,158.82 mm of rain, as against 2,634.29 mm measured during the period last year. In the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, the district recorded 76.97 mm of rain.

Madikeri received 72.2 mm of rain, Napoklu 63.2 mm, Sampaje 75 mm, Bhagamandala 170 mm, Virajpet 44.06 mm, Hudikeri 72.1 mm, Srimangala 92.06 mm, Ponnampet 180.04 mm, Ammathi 31.05 mm, Balele 48.2 mm, Somwarpet 65.04 mm, Shanivarasanthe 52.4 mm, Shanthalli 129 mm, Kodlipet 53 mm, Kushalnagar 15.6 mm, and Suntikoppa 32.3 mm.