By Rajat. R, Team Mangalorean
Pics: Rajesh Shetty

MANGALORE, July 29, 2010: Looks like the month of July will end with heavy rains and winds. Mangalore today saw heavy rains accompanied with gusty winds incessantly throughout the day. This region which gets over 4000 mm average rainfall during the South Westerly monsoons this time has already reached nearly 3000mm of rains already even while over 30 days of monsoons was yet to lash.

The most affected part was the highways as the roads had been clogged in many places all along the National Highway 48 leading to Bangalore. The Shirady ghats which has been in the eye of the storm for over a year, has gone bad again with the initial rains. The roads were repaired only recently at a cost of Rs. 12 crores but all that have gone into the drains points out estimated PWD figures.

The Mangalore Bangalore railway line has not been affected so far due to rains. South Western Railway authorities say that however as a precautionary measure, the trains have been advised to slow down in the ghat section in critical passes and curves and narrow passages as the tracks will be drenched due to the rains. “We have thoroughly inspected the route recently and we found no flaws in the tracks and are in superb condition, the spots which are more vulnerable to landslides have been further strengthened” the officials pointed out.

The Bajpe airport receives maximum rains since it’s a table top airport. “We do not have visibility problems, the all weather landing lights are capable of guiding the pilots even in the worst flight conditions” say the airport authorities. The flights are landing and taking off normally with minimum delay which is common in rainy season they clarified.

While in Mangalore city, a portion of the National Highway 17 near Kottara in Mangalore City limits was inundated in the afternoon for some time. Few other interior roads was also reported to have water clogged but came back to normal within few hours. Inconvenience was experienced by the residents and the movement of vehicles was hampered to some extent. No damages were reported except for a few fallen trees.

22 students injured

Twenty-two children were injured when a tree collapsed on their school near Katpadi on Thursday afternoon following heavy rain. Gusty winds have damaged roofs in several parts of the district.

Class VI students of ZP Composite High School, Manipur, were writing their exams when the tree fell on their roof, thatched by RCC sheets. The school building was damaged in the incident. Three students who sustained severe injuries were rushed to the district hospital. They are out of danger, the school authorities said.