Major damages may delay opening of Sampaje Ghat

The landslides at mutiple locations and severe damage to culverts and roads on Sampaje Ghat (NH 275) from Jodupala to Madikeri, in Kodagu district, covering a distance of 14 km, will delay the opening of the road for traffic.

A senior officer from the national highways division of the PWD said, “it will take at least six months for the temporary repair of the road. The rain is hampering the work to clear the road.”

He said the entire stretch has seen landslides at several locations. At a few areas, the entire road is washed away in Payaswini river. It will take time for clearing the soil, boulders and trees fallen on the stretch. A few landslides are more than half a kilometre long.

A Sullia resident said, "people from Kodagu district visit Sullia or Mangaluru for multi-speciality treatment at hospitals. The closure of the road has affected such patients. Now, a few travel on the Madikeri-Bhagamandala-Karike-Panathadi-Kasargod-Sullia-Mangaluru road.”

With floods causing damage in Jodupala and surrounding areas on the border of Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts, two experts from Geological Survey of India and an official from the National Disaster Management Authority visited Jodupala, Monnangeri and Hemmathala for a preliminary study.

Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil told DH that the experts will give a preliminary report. The inputs from the GSI experts will be sought before undertaking restoration works.

“If the GSI experts feel Devarakallu, Aramakallu and Karekallu, where no major damage has happened, are safe, the victims will be sent back to their houses after the rain recedes. A majority of the residents who are provided shelter at relief centres in Sampaje, Kallugundi and Aranthodu wish to go back to their houses,” said the DC. But places like Jodupala and Monnangeri are still risky for people to go.

Senthil said the work on clearing roads at Jodupala is on. About schoolchildren at relief camps, the deputy commissioner said a majority of them had started attending nearby schools.

The team, helped by a map of the region, checked whether the topography and course of the river had changed.

Speaking to media persons, Maruthi, one of the team members, said, "It requires indepth study to find out the cause for the devastation. The experts will visit again after the rain recedes.”

“We need to find out the hard rock area to check the stable zone. A detailed mapping of the region needs to be done. It looks like rainfall led to excessive flow of water in the 'nala' in the region, which in its course washed away houses and shops,” he said.

An in-depth study is required to find out whether there can be habitation in the landslide-affected area, Maruthi added.