Santosh Vittal, a shepherd, who had taken his sheep to graze near the overflowing Allapur tank in Chincholi taluk in Kalaburagi, was washed away by the flood water on Sunday.
According to reports reaching the police in Kalaburagi on Sunday, the body of Santosh (30), who hailed from Kodli village, was fished out by the local swimmers who went in search of him a km from where he had drowned.
Although most of the areas in Kalaburagi were free of rain and flood, the worst hit Kagina, Mullamari and Bennethora rivers are now showing signs of receding. The district administration is keeping its fingers crossed over the latest warning by weathermen that the North Interior Karnataka districts would experience incessant rain till September 28.
Aerial survey
Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil who is camping in Kalaburagi supervising the relief operations said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is likely to undertake a tour of the affected areas in both Bidar and Kalaburagi on Tuesday. The CM had cancelled his scheduled aerial survey of flood-ravaged areas in both districts on Sunday on the advise the weathermen that it would be unwise to conduct an aerial survey via helicopter in the inclement weather.
Although the flow in the Kagina river has come down drastically, major bridges across the river at Malkhed in Sedam taluk and Dandoti in Chitapur taluk remained submerged for the fourth day in succession, disrupting movement of traffic between Kalaburagi and Telangana via Sedam and Ripponpalli in Telangana. Although the Malkhed bridge was slightly visible, authorities are not allowing vehicles on it as a precaution. They are expected to allow the movement of traffic on the bridge only after the water level of the river recedes further.
Traffic from Kalaburagi to Yadgir district has been restored following the receding of the flood water in the Kagina inundating the bridge across the river in the outskirts of Shahabad town in Chitapur taluk on the Kalaburagi-Yadgir-Raichur National highway.
The inflow into all the major reservoirs has come down drastically in the past 24 hours, and the authorities have also reduced outflow from the reservoirs. All the major reservoirs including Bennethora, Bhima Lift Irrigation Project, Gandorinala, Chandrampalli, and Lower Mullamari were full to the brim. The dried-up Amarja Dam had received a good inflow as 54.07 per cent of the dam was filled up owing to the past three days of rain.