Heavy rain claims nine lives, BSY to visit Belagavi on Sunday

BENGALURU: Nine people have died and three have gone missing so far in Karnataka with torrential rain lashing several parts of the state for the last three days. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa held a series of meetings over video-conference with officials of Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, Shivamogga, Haveri, Chikkamagaluru and Dharwad districts on Friday to take stock of the situation. Yediyurappa will visit Belagavi --- one of the worst-hit districts--- on Sunday.

Meanwhile, district ministers have been directed by the CM to stay put in their districts and supervise rescue and relief operations.

Of the nine people who have lost their lives so far, six died of drowning. While two people each drowned in Belagavi and Uttara Kannada, one each drowned in Dharwad and Kodagu districts.  One person died due to house collapse in Chikkamagaluru and two owing to landslides in Uttara Kannada.

Landslides have been reported from 16 places, with Uttara Kannada being the worst-hit. Fifteen teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to assist local authorities with rescue operations.

According to the data from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre, coastal and Malnad districts have received anywhere between 500mm and 1,238 mm of rainfall over the last 7 days. While 40,000 people have been affected, 283 villages and 45 taluks have been severely hit. Apart from roads, agricultural land, electricity poles, bridges, school buildings, and other public property have also been damaged.