Traffic, infrastructure hit as Mangaluru gets heavy rain

A portion of the retaining wall of a commercial complex near City Centre fell and a part of the façade of the newly built dining hall on the Town Hall premises came down owing to heavy rain in the city since Friday night. Artificial flooding was seen near the Kuloor flyover on NH 66 affecting traffic movement. Waterlogging near the New Mangalore Port on the National Highway 66 led a truck into a shoulder drain separating the highway and the service road. Traffic between the Fisheries College and Gorigudde on the same highway was affected because of waterlogging near the Gorigudde bus stop. Artificial flooding was also seen in Kottara Chowki, near Balmatta Juice Junction, in Vaidyanatha Nagar in Attavar, Bejai, Kodialbail and in Adyar Katte. Mayor Kavita Sanil asked some Mangaluru City Corporation officials to leave a special meeting of the council she was presiding over and attend to problems. Ms. Sanil received calls complaining about waterlogging, with people even sending her photos of the affected areas. “We are answerable to people, who have elected us and not officials,” she said. When councillors, Bhaskar Moily and Deepak Poojary, pointed to the absence of labourers to clear blockages, Ms. Sanil said, “Officials will arrange it, you attend to problems.” In the last 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. on Saturday, the city received 70.7 mm rainfall. With a forecast of heavy rain in the next four days, Deputy Commissioner K.G. Jagadeesha has asked all tahsildars and taluk panchayat executive officers to be on alert and take all necessary measures to mitigate problems to people. Five injured in Raichur Five members of a family suffered injuries after a portion of house wall collapsed owing to heavy rain in Namajageri Gaddi locality in Manvi town, the police said. The injured have been identified as Krishna and his wife, Laxmi, his parents and a child. Rain and thunderstorms caused heavy damage in Raichur district, particularly in Manvi and Sindhanur taluks. Standing crops on approximately 2,500 hectares were damaged, M. Kiran Kumar, Joint Director of Agriculture Department, told The Hindu. Several villages in Sindhanur and Manvi taluks lost road connectivity. Classes were suspended in a government school in Deodurg after rain and sewage entered the room. Copious rain in Yadgir Yadgir district received copious showers from Friday evening to early on Saturday. There was waterlogging in low-lying areas in Yadgir and Surpur.