Body of one missing resident recovered in Kodagu

MADIKERI: Rain continued its onslaught in the hilly Kodagu district on Saturday, and the residents continued to suffer as landslides were reported in various taluks. Meanwhile, three days after five residents in Talacauvery, of whom three were members of the family of a priest Narayanachar, the body of the priest’s brother, Ananda Thirtha Swami, was found on Saturday.
Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with counterparts from the Karnataka team, found Anada Thirtha’s body at a depth of 20ft at the site where the landslide occurred on Wednesday.Meanwhile, 70-year-old Narayanachar, his wife Shantha and two of his assistants Srinivas, 30, and Ravi Kiran, 26, are still missing. NRDF personnel managed to recover Ananda Thirtha’s body on Saturday evening, but inclement weather forced them to suspend the search thereafter.
The heavy showers lashing the district notwithstanding, the rescue operation continued following pressure from Virajpet MLA KG Bopaiah. A senior functionary of a Sangh parivar outfit Su Ramanna requested Bopaiah to ensure that the search for Narayanachar, a Sangh parivar activist himself, continued.
Narayanachar’s sister Susheelamma Kedilaya has lodged a complaint at the Bhagamandala police station, seeking action on her missing family members.
Meanwhile, another earth-moving machine has been pressed into service to clear the Bhagamandala-Talacauvery Road, which was badly affected following a landslide.
Legislators blame forest dept for landslides in Kodagu
Virajpet MLA KG Bopaiah and MLC Veena Achaiah placed the blame on the landslides in Kodagu district on the shoulders of forest department officials. The legislators said that the trenches that had been dug in the Brahmagiri and Gajagiri hills four years ago for harvesting of rainwater, undertaken as part of the afforestation initiative, had led to the landslides. They said that the ground had been excavated using earth-moving machines and since it had not been covered, the district was facing landslides during the monsoon.
52 spots in district affected
Local authorities in Kodagu have estimated that as many as 52 places across the district have suffered because of landslides. They suspect that the district has recorded as many as 14 landslides thus far, owing to which eight roads have been closed to traffic, while a whopping 1,800 electricity poles have been damaged. The Kodagu-Hassan Road has been closed at Kanive following a flood. Vhetri, Monnageri, Jodupala, Hoddur-Kottamudi, Murnad and Kushalnagar are among the places where residents have reported loss of property. Along with Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, district in-charge minister V Somanna on Saturday visited Virajpet to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, those affected by the flood across the district are reluctant to shift to rehabilitation centres owing to the threat of the transmission of the novel coronavirus. However, Somanna directed authorities to subject people at these centres to a rapid antigen test to allay the fears among the people. Residents of Nellihudikeri Kumbaragundi village in Kodagu were rescued byNDRF personnel with the use of boats.