Daijiworld Media Network – Sullia (SP)
Sullia, Aug 5: Copious rains in catchment areas on Monday August 4 afternoon swelled River Kumaradhara by a few feet. Unexpectedly, as the water level in the river rose steeply late afternoon on Monday, the Kumaradhara bridge, an important link for devotees visiting this temple town and other people alike, got submerged.
Some Home Guards personnel deputed to keep a watch on the water level and stop people from making adventures, saw at around 3.30 pm that the water level in the river was steadily rising. They immediately alerted local educational institutions, who let the students go by 3.40 pm. But, by the time the students approached the bridge, the water level had gone up suddenly, and the bridge had gone three feet under water.
This stranded nearly 600 students hailing from Kadaba, Alankaru, Mardala, Bilinele, Kombaru, Sunkadakatte Kaikamba, Kulkunda, and Gundia, and about 50 students coming to Subrahmanya from Kulkunda on both the sides of the bridge. The daily commuters, who were also anxious about the possibility of reaching their homes early, had to wait for the river water to recede.
By evening, some buses were run to Kadaba via Panja route, and some of the students made use of this service. Some others had to spend heavily to reach their destinations by hiring private vehicles which took a winding detour to reach there. About 50 children who were to go to Kulkunda, which is just two km away from Subrahmanya, and people who routinely cross this bridge for work or business, waited by the side of the bridge. After the water level went down and the bridge came to sight at around 9.30 pm, they crossed the bridge and went to homes by walk.
In the meanwhile, Sullia tahsildar, Srinivas Shetty, instructed a government bus that was to leave Subrahmanya to Bangalore at 9.30 pm, to take the waiting children from Kulkunda to their village, as they were waiting for long and it was very late. But, as the bus staff refused to oblige, people got angry.
Vehicles were allowed to move on the bridge at around 10 pm, after the water level went further down. Vehicles which had made a two-km line, then crossed the bridge and entered Subrahmanya.