Heavy rains batter south Karnataka; traffic hit on Bengaluru-Mysuru highway

Heavy showers lashed many parts of south interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Tumakuru and Chikkaballapur districts, hitting normal life in the region on Sunday.

Heavy downpour in the evening sent traffic into a tailspin on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway on the outskirts of Ramanagar. Skies opened up at 6 pm and it poured for next two hours flooding the underbridges and low-lying areas of the highway. The inundated road left the vehicles stranded for hours before the NHAI personnel cleared the road for traffic.

A motorist poured out his woes to DH saying that it (flooding) has become common during the monsoon due to unscientific road works. “There is no proper outlet between the highway and drains built on the service road on either side of the highway. Every time it rains, the highway gets inundated and traffic gets hit.”

Chamarajanagar and Gundlupet taluks continued to experience heavy showers on Sunday. Incessant rain in the past few days has filled many water bodies in the district, including those in Bandipur national park.

Several parts of Tumakuru, including Huliyar, Gubbi and Kadaba, received heavy rain on Saturday night.

The overnight showers had turned Ramgopal Circle into a lake. Huliyar recorded 10 cm of rain in the last 24 hours. Nittur in Gubbi taluk registered 8 cm of rain.

After a long break, rain resumed in Chikkaballapur. The town witnessed sharp showers between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm. Gauribidnur also experienced intermittent spells of sharp rain on Sunday.

Heavy rain, coupled with gusty winds, lashed Molakalmuru taluk in Chitradurga district on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. Many water bodies in the parched taluk clocked good inflows. Several banana plantations have been damaged due to strong winds that swept several villages in Devasamudra hobli.

Many parts of Kalyana Karnataka region, including Kalaburagi and Bidar, and Vijayapura district witnessed moderate rains on Sunday.