Karnataka floods: Malnad takes beating, Mudigere worst hit

Bengaluru: A year after floods and landslides left Kodagu devastated, more sections of the Western Ghats have borne the brunt of  this monsoon, with rivers overflowing and wreaking havoc in the region.   

While last year it was north Kodagu that suffered, this year, it is the southern part of the district that has seen entire hillsides collapse, and houses fall.   Sakaleshpur taluk in Hassan district managed to withstand the deluge, but neighbouring Mudigere taluk in Chikkamagaluru district has been devastated.

 Thirthahalli and Sagar taluks of Shivamogga district too have suffered some damage, as has Uttara Kannada with many places here left marooned. The rescue work was done by locals, as official machinery could not reach the remote spots in Mudigere taluk and  Uttara Kannada. The extent of damage is likely to be high, as the area is home to commercial crops like coffee, arecanut, pepper, cardamom and tracts of paddy fields.

Mudigere taluk has been the worst affected, experiencing over 10 major landslides, that buried houses, vehicles, coffee and arecanut plantations. South Kodagu however saw only two major landslides. One at Thora village near Virajpet, where five of a family were buried under mud and another in the Brahmagiri range near the Iruppu falls. But last week's rain flooded most of the low lying areas here .

Meanwhile, Mathighatta, ranked as one of the state's best biodiversity hotspots, saw multiple landslides and people of the entire Malnad are still living in fear of more landslides should there be more rain. But luckily for them,despite  predictions of moderate to heavy rainfall, there has been no rain in the Malnad for the last two days.