Swollen rivers, flooding, landslides affect normal life along coast

Mangaluru/ Udupi: Rain continued to pound the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi on Saturday, but with less intensity. The IMD has forecast a red alert for the coastal districts till Tuesday.
Like Friday, the day was marked by flooding and landslides due to water saturation, at many places in both the districts, with inundation at its peak in Kundapur and Byndoor taluks of Udupi district.
There were reports of several trees being uprooted and landslides at Valachil and Derebail in Mangaluru taluk, Mundaje in Belthangady taluk and Jalsoor in Sullia taluk, and sea erosion continued along the coastline at many places. The district administrations have directed people to move out from vulnerable areas to safer places, or government designated relief centres.
The past few days of rain saw the water level rising to the near danger level in rivers in Dakshina Kannada. While the Netravati River in Bantwal was flowing at a level of 6.8m, the danger level being 8.5m, the Netravati River at Uppinangady was at a level of 28.60m, with the danger level being 31.5m. The water levels have risen slightly from Friday’s levels. The Gundya River was at a level of 4.5m, with the danger level being 5m.
A bulletin issued by IMD at 1 pm on Saturday, stated that very heavy rain occurred at Mulki in Dakshina Kannada, that received 190mm rain; Karkala in Udupi district got 150mm rain; Kota in Udupi district got 140mm rain and Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada district and Siddapura in Udupi district got 130mm rain each.
According to the KSNMDC, three places in Udupi district received the heaviest rain in the state. They are Kuchhuru in Karkala taluk, that received 228mm of rainfall, Kurkalu in Udupi taluk received 191 mm rain and Nalkur in Udupi taluk received 184 mm of rainfall, in the last 24 hours, till Saturday.
All taluks of Dakshina Kannada district received excess rainfall by 100% to 200%, than the average rainfall recorded for the day. Dakshina Kannada district received an average rainfall of 653mm, Udupi received 807mm and Uttara Kannada district received 496mm of rainfall, in the last 24 hours.
In the last 24 hours, Moodbidri and Sullia received the highest rainfall, at 59mm and 43mm, respectively.
Flight to Dubai delayed by 13 hours
Due to the late-night flight from Dubai, which was scheduled to land at the airport here at 9.15 pm on Friday, being diverted to Kochi, the Dubai flight from Mangaluru left for Dubai 13 hours late, at 12.30pm on Saturday.
Airport sources said that low visibility due to rain, forced the flight to first get diverted to Coimbatore at 9.45pm, and later to Kochi at 10.15 pm. The diverted flight landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 9.30am on Saturday, due to crew change, and later left for Dubai at 12.30pm on Saturday, instead of at 11.30pm on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Hyderabad-Mangaluru flight landed an hour late, due to low visibility, after circling the airport for nearly an hour, at 12.30 pm. The late evening flight to Chennai from Mangaluru, scheduled at 9pm, has been delayed by 90 minutes.
Zoo inundated
Due to heavy rain and flooding at a few enclosures, and trees being uprooted, the zoo at Pilikula has been closed to the public till Monday. On Saturday, the park premises was inundated due to rain. Pilikula Biological Park director H J Bhandary said that from the point of view of public and animal safety, the zoo will remain closed, till such time the authorities feel it is safe for the public to come.