Schools, colleges shut in rain-hit coastal Karnataka
Mangaluru, May 30: All schools and colleges across coastal Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district will remain shut on Wednesday and Thursday as heavy rains disrupt normal life, said an official.
"We have advised all state-run and private schools and colleges across the district to remain closed for two days as a safety measure due to heavy rains flooding roads and localities in the district," Deputy Commissioner Sasikant Sentil told reporters here, about 350km from state capital Bengaluru.
A record 40mm rainfall on Tuesday in the port city of Manganluru inundated several areas, including roads and housing colonies and commercial hubs due to storm-water drains overflowing and garbage blocking their movement.
"Though the south-west monsoon is set to enter the state in the next two days, a cyclonic storm, low pressure and strong surface winds have brought moderate to heavy rains in the coastal areas since Monday," a weather official told IANS.
Forecasting rain or thundershowers over the next two days in the coastal districts and south interior areas due to favouring conditions, the official said fishermen have been advised not to venture into the Arabian Sea and tourists were told to stay away from beaches facing high tides.
"Took stock of the situation in Dakshina Kannada due to heavy rains since Tuesday across the coastal district and directed the administration to take assistance of the coast guard to prevent loss of life and mitigate hardship," tweeted state Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy from Bengaluru.
Pre-monsoon rains were also reported from Udupi, Honnavar, Agumbe, Karwar in the coastal region, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad and Gadag, affecting movement of people and goods and causing damage to crops.
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State govt has funds in SDRF for Wayanad rehabilitation: Centre to Kerala HC
Kochi, Nov 15: The Centre on Friday informed the Kerala High Court that money for Wayanad rehabilitation was available in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and information regarding allocation of any additional funds for it will be conveyed by the end of the month.
The submission from the central government came during the hearing of a plea initiated by the High Court for prevention and management of natural disasters in the state in the wake of the landslides that devastated three villages in Wayanad district of Kerala.
The state government on the other hand told the court that the Centre in a letter has said it will not allocate any more funds, than what has already been allocated, for the rehabilitation of the disaster victims.
It claimed that no positive assurance has been received from the Centre.
A bench of justices A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and K V Jayakumar, however, did not agree with the state's stand and questioned whether it was based on media reports.
The bench told the state government that the Centre has not said that it will not provide more assistance.
It said that while news reports may appear to indicate that nothing will be provided, if you look at the details, it does not seem so.
The state's contentions were based on news reports and the letter received from the Centre.
The Centre in a letter to the state had said that under the existing guidelines of SDRF and NDRF, there is no provision to declare any calamity a 'national disaster'.
The matter will be heard next on Friday, the court said.
