Kodagu: Hundreds of people marooned in flood-hit Kodagu district were rescued by the state disaster relief forces with assistance from the Indian Army troops and Navy diver on Friday August 17th.

Kodagu is one of the districts in the southern state worst hit by the south-west monsoon rains since June first week. 73 boats, equipment and rafts were deployed by the Army’s engineering task force for rescuing marooned people and escorting them to safety.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s office said that about 60 Dogra Regiment soldiers and 12 expert naval divers rescued 873 marooned people in the flood-hit district, where overnight heavy rains caused landslides and inundated low-lying areas at Makkanduru.

The rescue and relief operations were joined by about 60 members of the national and state disaster relief forces and 45 members of the civil defence with boats and equipment in Madikeri. About 200 personnel of the state fire service had rescued people in flood-hit towns and villages across the district with their boats and equipment. The district administration has housed 573 persons in 17 relief camps.

Though the Indian Air Force (IAF) aborted rescue mission due to inclement weather, it will fly M17 chopper from Mysuru on Saturday to rescue the remaining stranded and transport relief supplies.

“Telecom services, disrupted due to rains and strong winds uprooting poles and snapping phone lines, are being restored on priority. HAM operators have been deployed as back-up. Power lines are also being restored,” said the statement.

Due to multiple landslides and inundation of highways and roads along the Ghat sections, intra and inter-state bus and train services between Karnataka and flood-hit Kerala have been suspended.

KSRTC as well as private bus services Mysuru and Chamarajanagar to Ooty and Coonoor hill stations in Tamil Nadu have also been suspended because of flooding and fallen trees blocking the routes in the ghat section.

As per the weather office reports, heavy rains will continue to lash the state’s coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada, thereby disrupting normal life. The state’s metrological department has warned of moderate to heavy rain in coastal, south interior and north interior areas of the state till Sunday.

Due to flooding and disruption of bus services, schools and colleges will remain closed even on Saturday in the affected districts.

Heavy rains covered the Malnad region flooding several areas in Shivamogga, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru districts.