Restoration hit by downpour; landslides and accidents add to Karnataka’s weather woes
Bengaluru: An official estimate by Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), Kodagu pointed 200 electric poles were uprooted across Kodagu district on Sunday following incessant rainfall lashing the region since couple of days and owing to disruption in power supply, nearly 60 percent of the district has plunged into darkness.
To make matters worse for the residents of Kodagu, continuous rainfall hindered restoration works, besides, the hilly regions of the district made certain locations inaccessible to the CESC personnel to undertake works.
“Some locations in Kodagu are without power for two-days,” said sources while CESC Executive Engineer Ramachandra told Deccan Chronicle on Sunday “If there is respite from rains then personnel would complete the restoration works in a couple of days to restore power to affected areas. But, continuous rains haven't allowed personnel to undertake restoration works in full swing.”
The EE said, “There is no shortage of man-power or the materials needed to restore power supply but needed respite from rains.” Electric poles fell on the Somwarpet-Kushalnagar road, Gonnikoppa causing disruption of vehicular movement.
Ramachandra said, some residents unaware of the situation exerted pressure on CESC personnel to restore power supply as soon as possible but again rainfall continued to lash the region and affected the works. As per Meteorological report, Kodagu is all set to receive rainfall for over a week.
In Koppa taluk of Chikkamagaluru, an auto-driver identified as Ratnakar 45 died on the spot after a huge tree fell on him while he was on his auto rickshaw at Koogre in Koppa taluk of Chikkamagalauru on Sunday at around 1.30 pm. The incident occurred under Jayapura police station.
A landslide near Donigal of Sakleshpur of Hassan district brought traffic to a halt via Shiradi linking Bengaluru with Mangaluru. Passengers were stranded on the Ghat section while traffic police diverted the traffic towards Harle-Hanabalu to reach their destinations.
