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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Padma awardees in Odisha to receive monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000
Bhubaneswar, Jan 16 (PTI): The Odisha government will provide a monthly honorarium of Rs 30,000 to each of the Padma awardees of the state from the current month.
The Odia Language Literature and Culture Department issued a notification to this effect on Thursday.
In view of their outstanding contribution to society in various fields, the state government has decided to provide an honorarium of Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees, the notification said.
All the Padma awardees of the state, who are alive, will receive the honorarium through direct benefit transfer (DBT) mode from January 2025, it said.
The government has asked collectors and culture officers of all districts to submit details of the Padma award winners (who are alive) including the district collector's certificate, bank account details, IFSC code to the Directorate of Odia, Language, Literature and Culture as soon as possible.
In March last year, the previous BJD government had announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 25,000 for the Padma awardees from Odisha. However, it was not implemented yet, an official of the department said.
In November last year, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had decided to provide Rs 30,000 to the Padma awardees of the state. Accordingly, the formal notification was published on Thursday, he said.
The Padma Award was introduced in 1954. The award is given to personalities for their outstanding contribution in the fields of arts, education, science, sports, social work, public service, medicine, literature, etc.
As per the Padma Awards website of the Ministry of Home Affairs, till now, the President has conferred Padma awards on 105 eminent personalities from Odisha, which includes 90 Padma Shri, 11 Padma Bhushan and four Padma Vibhushan.
