Mangaluru: Rain causes havoc in low-lying areas; 150 houses waterlogged

MANGALURU: Moderate to heavy rains in the city from Thursday night have left low-lying areas in knee-deep water. More than 150 houses in the area were waterlogged; the compound walls of a few house collapsed in Alape and several vehicles were damaged after a retaining wall crashed on them at Derebail on Friday.
The severity of rain was particularly felt in Jappinamogeru and Kotta Chowki areas of the city. Many residents
had to be shifted to safer places after the water inundated the ground floor of their building. Those who had first floor shifted to the upper floors. Though the Mangaluru City Corporation had cleared all the drains and storm drains of all debris and silt, these areas being low-lying, saw waters gush into the houses. Kodialbail West also saw water on the roads as the storm water drain overflowed with relentless rains from Thursday.

Mayor Diwakar, who visited the affected places supervising rescue and relief, said the effect was prominent in Jappinamogeru area where at least 150 houses were waterlogged and about 50 to 60 persons were shifted to Maratha Bhavan nearby with the help of fire department personnel using rubber dinghies.
An elederly woman being carried to safety by volunteers in Jappinamogeru area of Mangaluru on Friday.
District fire officer Mohammed Nawaz Zulfikar told TOI that the collapse of a retaining wall of a building at Derebail may have damaged many two-wheelers and four-wheelers. He said they could not ascertain the exact numbers of vehicles under the debris since they could not approach the site as the rest of the portion of the wall was dangerously close to collapsing. "As per the CCTV footage, no one is injured and the building is safe," he said.
The mayor said about four compound walls had collapsed in Shivanagar of Alape area due to rains. Regarding the reason for inundation in low-lying areas, Diwakar said the continuous rain from Thursday left little place for water to go. "We had cleared drains and storm water drains this year identifying vulnerable spots, but the continuous rain has caused this problem. Even if the rain relents for an hour, much of the water would recede giving citizens’ the much-needed relief,’’ he added.