Heavy rain pounds Karnataka, flood alert in affected districts
Bengaluru, Aug 15 : With the coastal and other districts of Karnataka receiving heavy rain a flood alert has been sounded in the southern state, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, coastal Udupi district received up to 35.7 cm rain in certain parts over the past 24 hours.
Other coastal districts like Dakshina Kannada received 33.8 cm rain, Uttara Kannada 33.6 cm, south interior districts of Kodagu 28.8 cm, Chikkamagaluru 25.1 cm, Hassan 24.5 cm and Shivamogga 33.6 cm.
"Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy directed Deputy Commissioners of Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts, which are receiving heavy rain over the last few days, to be prepared to take up relief work," a statement from the Chief Minister's Office said.
He also directed officials to visit the affected districts and assess the losses.
The northern parts of the state also received light to moderate rainfall.
The Chief Minister ordered preventive steps to avoid mishaps and inconvenience to the public due to floods and landslides.
Due to the heavy rain, landslides were reported since Monday in several parts of Karnataka, particularly on the Bengaluru-Mangaluru route, leading to suspension of services of several state-run buses and trains since Tuesday night.
Landslides were reported in Sakleshpur sub-district in the Western Ghats mountains in Hassan district, obstructing vehicular movement from Bengaluru to Mangaluru.
Six trains, including the Karwar-Yeshwanthpur Express and the Yeshwanthpur-Mangalore Junction Express, were partially cancelled and a few other trains diverted since Tuesday evening due to the landslides, the South Western Railway said in a statement.
"All premium bus services from Bengaluru towards Mangaluru, Dharmasthala (in Dakshina Kannada district), and Kundapura (in Udupi district) have been cancelled due to landslides owing to heavy rain," the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation said.
With the state's reservoirs in the Cauvery basin filled to capacity due to the bountiful rains over two months, the incessant rains now are causing rivers to overflow.
In the Cauvery basin, water from the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir across the Cauvery river in Mandya district, Kabini reservoir in Mysuru district across Kabini river, one of the major tributaries of Cauvery, is being released over the past few days, flooding nearby towns and villages.
"About 1.2 lakh cusecs of rainwater was released from the KRS reservoir and another 50,000 cusecs from the Kabini reservoir as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday," Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Shankar told IANS.
The released water has been flooding several farmlands and roads in the villages and towns around the reservoirs.
Due to high waves and heavy winds, the Bengaluru division of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weather advisory asked the fishermen to avoid venturing into the Arabian Sea.
The heavy rain in the coastal and south interior districts will continue for the next couple of days, the IMD said.
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Reports on CM Naidu’s VB-G RAM G Act concerns significant: Siddaramaiah
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said reports of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu flagging concerns over the VB-G RAM G Act’s funding pattern are politically significant and have implications for Centre-State relations.
These concerns assumed importance as they come from a key ally of the BJP whose support is critical to the Narendra Modi government, he said.
Sharing a news article titled "Naidu seeks assistance to state for enforcing new rural jobs law" on his official handle on 'X', Siddaramaiah said the VB-G RAM G Act must be repealed and the MGNREGA Act restored, with necessary reforms.
"The reports that the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu has raised concerns with the Union Government over the implementation of the VB-G RAM G Act - especially regarding the altered funding pattern and the additional burden on states - are politically significant and consequential for Centre–State relations," he said.
Siddaramaiah claimed that for months, the Congress party and opposition-ruled states, including Karnataka, have warned that the VB-G RAM G Act undermines cooperative federalism by shifting financial responsibility onto states.
"A BJP ally now echoing these concerns exposes a clear rupture within the NDA and undermines the BJP’s defence of the law," he said.
Siddaramaiah demanded that the union government and the BJP explain why the same objections were earlier dismissed as political criticism, saying the contrast between the two laws is clear.
He highlighted that under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), rural employment was a legal right backed by assured central funding.
"Under the new Act, that certainty is lost. States are required to implement the programme while sharing the cost, without any statutory guarantee of funds. What was once a guaranteed right of the people has been reduced to a matter of negotiation," the Karanataka CM alleged.
He further alleged that this shift has serious implications, saying when a CM is compelled to seek “alternative financial support” through private discussions, it signals that access to funds is being determined by bargaining power rather than by law.
"In the present political context, this raises the risk that allocations may be influenced by political alignment, adversely affecting Opposition-ruled states, including Karnataka," he said.
Siddaramaiah said if NDA partners, especially the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, find the new framework unsustainable, these concerns must be raised openly in Parliament. They cannot be addressed through selective concessions or private assurances.
"The developments reported today make it clear that the VB-G RAM G Act must be repealed and the MGNREGA Act restored, with necessary reforms. Employment security cannot be converted into a negotiable arrangement. Cooperative federalism must be sustained through guaranteed funding and equal treatment of all states - not through uncertainty and coalition arithmetic," he added.
