Heavy rains lash coastal, south Karnataka
Bengaluru, Aug 11: Heavy rains of up to 15 cm lashed coastal and southern Karnataka, causing rivers to overflow and creating a flood-like situation in villages and towns in the region, said an official on Saturday.
"Heavy rains are being received in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi, along with south interior districts of Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu and Shivamogga," the Director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) G.S. Srinivasa Reddy told IANS here.
Dakshina Kannada received a maximum of 14.9 cm over the last 24 hours, Uttara Kannada 10.5 cm, Udupi district 7.8 cm, Shivamogga district 9.4 cm, and Kodagu 10.2 cm.
Schools and colleges in Dakshina Kannada remained shut on Saturday owing to the heavy rains, an official said.
Heavy rains are likely to continue in the region over the next three days, a weather advisory from the Bengaluru centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
With the state's reservoirs in the Cauvery basin being filled to their maximum capacity due to bountiful rains over the last two months, any additional rains are causing the rivers to overflow, Reddy said.
In the Cauvery basin, Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) reservoir across Cauvery river in Mandya district, Kabini reservoir in Mysuru district across Kabini river, one of the major tributaries of Cauvery, have been filled to their full capacity.
"Due to excessive rains in Wayanad district in north Kerala, Kabini reservoir has received excess water which had to be released with the dam already being full," Reddy added.
About 80,000 cusecs of rain water was released from Kabini reservoir, and 59,000 cusecs from KRS reservoir since Friday, Mysuru district Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Shankar said.
"People in the low-lying areas in the nearby villages and towns of the reservoirs have been shifted to safe locations with the water being released. Police, fire services and other district officials are on duty day and night to assist people," Shankar told IANS.
The released water has flooded several farmlands and roads in the villages and towns of Mysuru district.
There were reports of several houses being submerged in the district and roads being damaged as a result of the water flow.
The IMD, while advising farmers to be prepared for heavy rains in coastal and south interior districts over the next few days, has asked fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea due to heavy winds along the Karnataka coast.
Northern Karnataka, which continues to face deficit rainfall, is likely to receive rains over the next few days, according to the weather office.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
