Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Karwar

Karwar: Heavy rain lashed Karwar and surrounding areas on Thursday, throwing normal life out of gear. Public and private property got damaged due to the rain.
The entire 30 km stretch of NH-66 got completely submerged between Karwar and Ankola towns. Water entered houses in the low-lying areas of Karwar city and surrounding places.
The weather department has warned that it will continue to rain for two more days.The area beside the newly expanded NH-66 witnessed chaos due to flooding, and in some places people were brought to higher ground with the help of ropes. In Ankola taluk, several cars were damaged, after trees fell on them.
In the area surrounding the INS Kadamba naval base in Arga and Chendia villages, the residential areas got flooded, due to which many residents got trapped. The authorities rescued several people from these areas.
The Karnataka Power Corporation has warned people living on the banks of the Kali River to move to safer places, as they may release water from 5 dams built across the river. There is heavy rain in the Kali catchment area and Kodasalli, Bommanahalli dams built across Kali River are almost full, due to which the water will be released any time, said officials.
Mallapur township belonging to Kaiga Nuclear Power station is flooded. The highest rain of 199 mm was recorded at Mallapur township in the last 24 hours, according to KSNMDC. The average normal rainfall recorded for this region on Thursday is 32.3mm, but in the last 24 hours, Uttara Kannada has recorded almost double the rainfall at 62.3 mm.
The high-rise buildings in the township are surrounded by water, and the residents are trapped inside. People in Hinduwada in Mallapur, who got trapped due to flooding, were later rescued by the authorities. People said that large logs are being washed away in the Kali River, which can endanger the lives of the people who are using boats to get to safer areas. In Karwar city too, the low-lying areas are flooded. By Thursday evening, the water level in different areas receded, as there was some respite from the rain.