Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi/Mangaluru
Udupi/Mangaluru, Oct 24: Dark clouds gathered over Udupi district on Friday afternoon, followed by light rain that intensified into heavy showers accompanied by thunder and lightning towards the evening.
Drizzling began in the afternoon and intensified around 4 pm. In several parts of Udupi city, rainwater failed to drain properly into stormwater drains and flowed onto the roads, disrupting the movement of motorists and pedestrians.
Areas including Hiriyadka, Ontibettu, AtradI, Kallianpur Santhekatte, Udupi city, Manipal and their surrounding localities witnessed cloudy and sunny conditions in the morning, followed by good rainfall accompanied by thunder and lightning in the afternoon. The same conditions prevailed across the taluks of Udupi, Karkala, Kundapur, Byndoor, Brahmavar, Kaup and Hebri.
Thunder and lightning were particularly intense in rural areas during the evening, disrupting electricity supply in some places.
Several parts of the district had also received rain throughout Thursday night. Lightning struck the house of Chandray Acharya in Nitte village of Karkala taluk, causing partial damage to the house.
Karkala and Hebri taluks also received rain on Friday. Several areas, including Kervashe, Bajagoli, Hosmaru, Hirgana, Bailur and Ajekar, experienced light showers after noon.
Heavy rain around noon on Friday in the border villages of Puttur and Kadaba taluks resulted in artificial flooding on National Highway 75 near Neerakatte, close to Uppinangady. The flooding occurred due to a blocked stream amid ongoing highway construction work, causing a substantial traffic jam on the Mangaluru-Bengaluru highway.
As part of the BC Road–Addahole highway project, construction work at Neerakatte remains incomplete, and a stream had become blocked with silt. During earlier moderate rainfall, the stream had not carried much water. However, heavy rain on Friday afternoon caused a sudden surge of water, which flowed like a flood.
The force of the water carried pieces of wood and silt, completely blocking the stream. As a result, the water overflowed onto the highway, disrupting traffic. Water accumulated at several points across an approximately two-kilometre stretch covering Neerakatte and Bedrodi, forcing vehicles to remain lined up for a considerable period.
Traffic gradually improved after the intensity of the rain subsided and the accumulated silt was cleared, allowing the water on the highway to recede.
Heavy rainfall was also reported in surrounding areas of Uppinangady, including Bajathur, Kanchana, Halenerekere, Koila, Golithottu, Valalu, Neerakatte and Bedrodi. Streams overflowed in several places, while water entered paddy fields and plantations.
The rain began around 3 pm and continued steadily for approximately one-and-a-half hours, followed by intermittent drizzle until night.
With water unable to flow through the blocked stream, the Neerakatte area became inundated, leaving the highway resembling a vast waterlogged stretch. Motorists travelling along the highway were alarmed by the sudden accumulation of water and struggled to drive through the flooded road.
Traffic was completely disrupted for nearly an hour.
The unexpectedly heavy rainfall caused large volumes of water to flow through the area, inundating arecanut plantations and paddy fields. Arecanuts that had fallen to the ground in plantations were washed away along with the floodwater.
Farmers also reported damage to paddy crops that were ready for harvesting.
As the highway construction work remains incomplete, flooding left motorists on the highway as well as those travelling on local roads unsure of which route to take. Small cars and even tankers were stranded in the water on the highway, with drivers unable to determine how to proceed safely.
With rainfall having been relatively low this season, the area had not witnessed flooding of this magnitude, and residents were surprised by the sudden artificial inundation.
Photographs and videos showing the highway submerged in water went viral on social media, prompting people to question where such a large volume of water had come from.