Belthangady: Rains lashed the Taluk for the entire day from Tuesday September 6 night to Wednesday September 7.
Though there was not enough rain for the rivers to overflow, there was a massive rise in the water level in the Mrityunjaya and Netravati rivers again on Tuesday afternoon. This had created panic in many places due to the flow of timber and heaps of sand. After about two hours, the water level receded.
It is suspected that the sudden rise in the water level may have led to many landslide in the vicinity of the origin of the rivers. To add to this, on Wednesday, water mixed with excessive soil flowed into the rivers. The 2019 flood-affected villages were also hit by flood-like water in the Mrutyunjaya and Netravati rivers on Tuesday evening.
The Aranpade Minor Bridge under Charmadi Gram Panchayat, where the Mrityunjaya river flows, has been inundated and a huge amount of timber and waste has accumulated. Due to this, the link road of the bridge, which connects Aranpade, Antara, Kolambe, etc., has been washed away and vehicular traffic has been disrupted.
The plantations of Umesh Gowda, Chandaiah Gowda, Darmana Gowda, Aruna Gowda, Udaya Gowda, Ranjith and others were damaged.
Locals said sand has also accumulated in some of the plantations here. The new farming was done after sand entered the orchards in these areas in the 2019 floods and completely damaged several acres of arecanut plantations. This time, the sand has again come down, which has left the farmers in a state of panic.
The river water has entered several acres of plantations in nearby Mundrupadi including that of Avinash Gokhale, Vasudev Gokhale, Shrinivas Gokhale, Sanjeev Shetty and others in nearby Mundrupadi, causing huge timber and waste to enter several acres of plantations nearby Mundrupadi, where huge timber and waste has been dumped due to heavy timber and waste in Kindi dam of Mundaje.
Moreover, these plantations have been irrigated with fertilisers, soil, etc., which cost lakhs of rupees to the land owners. Clearing the trees have become a challenge.
Residents of Kalmanja area said three boats used for illegal sand mining in the Mrityunjaya River from Charmadi side have washed away in water. Severe damage has been reported to the retaining walls of the river at Kakkeneji, Nagagundi, Kallole, Mapaladadi and other places in the Malavantige Village, which is connected to the Netravathi river. Water has entered many feilds of the area and heaps of garbage have come up here and there.
Malavantige Panchayat President Surekha, Vice-President Vinaya Chandra Senarabettu and other members visited the spot.
