Lake breach floods houses, ruins crops

GAURIBIDANUR (CHIKKABALLAPUR): Water gushed into 20 houses and damaged standing crops in 150 acres of agricultural land adjacent to Kengere village in Gouribidanur taluk following a lake breach. Following instructions from Chikballapur Deputy Commiss­ioner NM Nagaraj, revenue officials handed over Rs 10,000 to each to the families whose houses were damaged, as officials found it difficult to reconstruct a portion of the lake.

According to sources, Kengere lake, measuring 179 acres, in Gouribidanur taluk, has overflown following heavy rain over the past four days. This resulted in breach of the lake in one portion, resulting in waterlogging in low-lying areas. Farmers who were waiting to harvest their crops incurred huge losses. An alert was sounded for the villagers residing in Katti Halli village, and were asked to shift to safer places.