Belthangady: Due to the incessant rainfall over the past few days, there was a landslide along the National Highway 73, in the Charmadi Ghat.
As mud and other debris flowed onto the road, thereby blocking it, traffic was at a standstill for several hours. Civic authorities were pressed into action immediately to aid the stranded commuters.
There were also reports of trees falling in many places along the national highway but, many of those who were travelling at night were not aware of this, and were stuck as a result.
The roads could not be cleared until this morning (Tuesday, June 12) due to the torrential rainfall. However, as the rains subsided in the morning, various officials began the monstrous task of clearing the roads. By 3 PM today, a temporary arrangement of single-lane traffic was allowed to resume, to the relief of the commuters.
Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Dr. Ravikanth Gowda, Chikkamagalur SP Annamalai, Puttur Assistant Commissioner of Police Krishnamurthy, Belthangady Tahsildar Thammanna Thimmappa Hadimani, Circle Inspector Sandesh P G, Belthangady SI Girish Kumar, Belthangady Revenue Officer Ravi, PWD Engineer Touseef, Guruvayanakere Fire Brigade and officials of the forest department coordinated efforts to clear the road as soon as possible.
This is the first time that devastation on such a large scale has been witnessed in the Charmadi Ghat section, said the locals.
There was a long line of traffic, which was about 2 km long, as vehicles could not turn to take alternate routes due to the narrow road.
Commuters also faced a shortage of water and food as they were stranded overnight, without previous knowledge of what was to befall them.
Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja, Mudigere MLA Kumaraswamy, social worker Charmadi Hasanabba and volunteers of other organisations provided food and water to the stranded commuters.
