SHIVAMOGGA: People of Old Mandli area on Tirthahalli Road in the city were shocked when they woke up on Wednesday to find themselves in a pool of water following breach of the Tunga left bank canal around 6 am on Tuesday.
According to eyewitnesses, the canal breached about due to release of water from the Gajanur Tunga reservoir which gushed into Tirthahalli Road, Old Mandli, Kurubara Palya, Gandharva Nagar and the Krishna Rajendra Water works.
The first victims were people of Old Mandli as all of a sudden, water entered houses and thatched huts. Residents panicked and ran helter-skelter trying to save their children and belongings and came out of the houses. Some of them ran up to terraces to save themselves.
More than 10 old thatched huts have been damaged due to flooding and hundreds of houses in Old Mandli alone have been inundated in Tunga water. Coracles were being used to ferry people to safer areas.
Traffic movement on Tirthahalli Road was affected for hours following the floods in the area. Staff at the Krishna Rajendra Water Treatment Plant who supply drinking water to Shivamogga city, were also affected as water gushed into the plant submerging the pumpsets.
SP Ravi D. Channannavar rushed to the spot with police personnel to carry out rescue operations. City Corporation Commissioner Tusharamani, Assistant Commissioner Krishnamurthy, ZP CEO Rakesh Kumar, Local MLA K.B.Prasanna Kumar, Mayor S.K.Mariyappa and BJP leader K.S. Eshwarappa visited the spot.
