A viral video clip of a two-storey building plunging into a valley earlier this week brought home the scale of devastation in Kodagu, or Coorg -- the hilly district of coffee and oranges to whose idyllic homestays holidayers from Bangalore and elsewhere make a beeline every weekend.
Kodagu, where the Cauvery river rises, has received twice the amount of rain it normally gets in August. Rescue efforts have been stepped up in the region after heavy rainfall over the past few days caused landslides, wrecked roads and flooded homes, cutting off people and homesteads.
Six people have been killed in rain havoc and landlsides, said Karnataka deputy chief minister G Parameshwara on Twitter.
"873 people have been rescued so far and 17 relief camps have been set up," said Parameshwara on Twitter. The Army, Navy, NDRF and state disaster response teams are involved in rescue operations, he said.
Kodagu received 839.42 mm of rain in August, as against the normal weighted average of 421.30 mm, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.
Rescue operations in the rain-battered Kodagu district will be over by evening, informed district in-charge minister Sa Ra Mahesh on Saturday.
He also informed that Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy will visit Kodagu to review the flood situation in the district.
"Rescue operations will be over by evening. chief minister will visit Kodagu to review flood situation. Relief camps have been set up for people. Food, water, doctors and all facilities have been made available to them in relief camps," Mahesh told ANI.
Kumaraswamy will also chair a high-level meeting regarding the same in Krishna (his home office) before leaving for Kodagu district. He will pay a visit to rain-affected areas in Nanjangood and Kabini on August 19.
Kumaraswamy also directed Mahesh to get the supply of relief materials from Mysuru, said a press release from the chief minister's office.
(With ANI inputs)
