Incessant rain inundates roads, houses in Hubballi-Dharwad

HUBBALLI/DHARWAD: The poor infrastructure of Hubballi-Dharwad lay exposed as rain lashed the twin cities relentlessly since Tuesday evening, with several arterial roads in Heggeri, Anand Nagar, Hosure Cross, et al, getting waterlogged, rendering commute nigh impossible on these thoroughfares. Worse still, commuters had to wade through knee-deep water in Cotton Market and near Tulajbhavani temple, with rain adding to the woes of travelling on roads that are being upgraded and repaired.
The other consequence of the inclement weather was that weekly markets at Lingaraj Nagar and Ashok Nagar wore a desolate look with most residents staying inside their homes. Other commercial hubs in the twin cities such as Janata Bazaar, Koppikar Road, Durgad Bail, et al, too had very few customers, the lean spell they had to endure owing to the Covid-19 crisis now being extended because of heavy showers.
Heavy showers in its catchment areas resulted in Unkal Lake not only getting filled to the brim, but overflowing. Many low-lying areas such as Gangadhar Nagar, Aravind Nagar were waterlogged, while houses in Hanumanth Nagar, Vidyanagar, Channapet, Bani Oni, etc., were inundated. Complaints of power outages too flooded the offices of the civic agencies concerned.
Tuppari Halla overflowing
In addition to the twin cities, villages in Dharwad district too reported heavy rain, with normal life in the rural pockets being thrown out of gear. The Dharwad-Savadatti Road was blocked after the temporary bridge across Tuppari Halla near Harobelawadi being breached.
The temporary bridge had been constructed by the authorities to ease traffic movement between Dharwad and Savadatti, but the damage to the structure has compelled motorists to take a circular route via Belawadi, Tadakod, Garag or via Uppinabetageri, which increases the length of the journey by 40km to 50km.
The road near the Kalghatagi toll overflowed resulting in water gushing on to the Bus rapid Transit System lane. The residents of Channabasaveshwar .Nagar, Vijayanand Nagar had to bear the brunt of the waterlogging. Dharwad district superintendent of police Vartika Katiyar has appealed to the people against venturing near the Tuppari Halla bridge.
Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre data shows that Dharwad district recorded 36.2mm rain till 8am on Wednesday.