Heavy rains wreak havoc in Udupi district
Two injured after lightning strikes
Standing crops of banana, areca damaged
Udupi, May 22: Heavy rains that lashed in almost all the district except Karkala and Hebri taluks, with gusty wind and thunderbolt on the wee hours of Tuesday, wreaked havoc in the district. One person was killed and another injured in the lightning, while standing crops in Byndoor, Kundapura, Brahmavar and Udupi taluks were damaged.
The rains started in the midnight lasted for hours. Because of the heavy rains with gusty wind, the banana plantation and other crops in several acres in Kundapur and Byndoor taluks were damaged. As the lightning struck four to five houses, a woman in Herga village and a boy at Kodangala village sustained injuries and admitted to a hospital. However, one cow and a dog died after lightning struck them at Haluvalli in Karje gram panchayat limits.
It is said that the coastal Karnataka is receiving heavy rains because of the depression in Arabian Sea since Monday midnight and continued till Tuesday morning. Many houses were damaged as the trees were uprooted on some houses in Kundapur and Byndoor taluks.
Kundapur
A house belonging to Sham near Kodi at Kasaba hobli was partially damaged when a coconut tree fell on it, incurring a loss of Rs 50,000. A cement roof of the house of Jalaja Shedti in Yeyyadi-Matyadi was damaged due to heavy wind and the damage is estimated at Rs 25,000.
In Gopadi, three houses belonging to Jaya, Rukku of Molahalli and Raghuram Kanchan were damaged and together estimated the loss of Rs 43000.
Bijadi
Several houses in Bijadi were damaged in the rains. Houses belonging to Srinivasa Ganiga, Jyoti Poojary, Chandu and others were damaged either due to felling of trees or landsliding. In Kollur, a house was completely damaged when a tree fell on it and the loss was estimated at Rs 80,000, according to official sources.
Byndoor taluk
The roof of the house of Raviraj Shetty of Kudrukod in Navunda village was damaged along with water tank, incurring a loss of Rs 35,000. In the same village, the house of Sanjeev Shetty was also damaged when a tree fell on it and the damage is estimated at Rs 24,000 and Yadtare Nagesh Bhandary house was also damaged incurring a loss of Rs 15,000.
In the same way, the house of Kuttappan of Udayanagar in Mudhur was also damaged when a tree fell on it and the loss was estimated at Rs 80,000. The house of Jagannath Shetty of Hirebettu village near Hiriyadka was also damaged partially causing a loss of Rs 50,000.
Banana crop damaged
Because of heavy rains, banana plantations and other crops were damaged in Kundapur taluk. As the banana plantation of Manju Madivala of Hardalli Mandalli in the taluk, a loss was estimated at Rs 80000. More than 500 banana plants in the plantation of Ramanand Sherigar of Byndoor were completely uprooted causing a loss of over Rs 2 lakh. In the same way, more than 200 banana plants of Sridhar Ganiga of Teggarse were also damaged causing a loss of over Rs 1 lakh.
Rain details
In the last 24 hours, the district has received a good rainfall. The highest of 28.9 mm rain was recorded in Udupi, followed by Kundapur 15.5 mm and Karkala 6.7 mm rainfall.
Woman, boy injured
As lightning also struck in the region along with heavy rains and wind, a woman and a boy who were sustained injuries, were admitted to hospitals. One cow and a dog were killed. Sugandi Sherigarti (35), daughter of Appi Sherigarti of Kallagudde sustained severe burn injuries on her neck and back and admitted Manipal KMC hospital. When the lightning struck at around 3.30 am on Tuesday, Sugandi Sherigarti, her sister Sukanya Sherigarti and Krishna Sherigar who were sleeping were unconscious. However, Sugandi is recuperating. The intensity of the lightning was so much that gold chain of Sugandi was melted. Blankets and clothes were burnt. Mirror was damaged, wall developed cracks and the electric wires were also melted in the lightning.
When the house of Sananda Nayak of Kodangala was struck with lightning, his son Sandesh (14) sustained injuries and he was admitted to Udupi government hospital. The electronic goods and electric materials of Dinesh Shetty of Vakpadi in the taluk were also damaged.
Because of the lightning, power connection and electronic materials of Bhaskar Shetty of Haluvalli near Brahmavar were damaged. A cow and a dog were also died in the incident.
Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat visited the house of Bhaskar Shetty and assured of getting the compensation from the government.
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Women's reservation must be implemented without being made contingent on delimitation: CM
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that the Women's Reservation Bill is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation.
Terming the delimitation as the political re-engineering at the cost of southern states, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that these states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism.
The leaders' statements came a day before the Constitutional Amendment Bill with provisions on women's reservation implementation and delimitation was tabled in the Lok Sabha.
"You are right in highlighting the larger implications of the proposed delimitation approach and the concerns it raises for southern states. We wholeheartedly support the Women's Reservation Bill - it is a long-overdue reform that must be implemented immediately within the existing framework, without being made contingent on delimitation," Siddaramaiah said in a post on 'X'.
He was replying to his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy's post on 'X' with a letter, urging the former to unitedly resist moves to push a pro rata model to increase Lok Sabha seats, which would be highly detrimental and inimical to the interests of southern states.
"Any exercise that reshapes political representation must be undertaken with utmost care. The Union Government must engage all states in a transparent and consultative process, and ensure that fairness, federal balance, and consensus guide this critical decision," Siddaramaiah added.
Shivakumar said that this is not a delimitation, but political re-engineering "at the cost of southern states".
"The proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 850 will systematically reduce the voice of the South, while rewarding unchecked population growth elsewhere. This is nothing but punishing progress and good governance," he posted on 'X'.
Clarifying that Congress fully supports women's reservation and in fact, it was party's top leader Sonia Gandhi's vision and commitment that brought this dream to the national agenda, the Deputy CM said, "We demand that it be implemented without linking it to delimitation or seat expansion."
"I urge the Union Govt to not hide behind women's empowerment to push a deely unfair political agenda. Rushing such a massive restructuring of India's democracy during elections, without transparency or consultation, is deeply suspicious and unacceptable," he said.
Asserting that India's strength lies in balance not domination, and in fairness, not manipulation, Shivakumar said, "The Southern states will stand united, speak in one voice, and defend the true spirit of federalism."
"We will not allow the South to be politically marginalised."
