An autorickshaw driver was killed after his three-wheeler fell into an overflowing stormwater drain amid heavy rains at Kottara Chowki in Mangaluru on Friday (May 24) night.
The police gave his name as Deepak Acharya, 42, from Kottara Chowki. The incident took place at about 11 p.m. when the driver was returning home after dropping a passenger. He was alone in the vehicle when it fell. The driver probably did not notice the drain as the water from the drain was overflowing on the road and Mangaluru City Corporation had not erected any curb on the edge of the road as a safety measure to distinguish the drain and the road. The drain passed under Tiruvu Road near Yamuna Paradise Apartment. The vehicle with the driver drowned.
Many shops were flooded with rainwater at Kottara Chowki on Saturday. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
Many shops were flooded with rainwater at Kottara Chowki. | Photo Credit: H.S. MANJUNATH
The Urwa Police have registered a case under Section 304 A of the IPC against concerned officials of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) due to whose fault, the incident allegedly occured, police said.
Floodwaters also entered several low-lying shops in the Kottara Chowki area on Friday night. The shopkeepers were seen draining the water on May 25 (Saturday) morning.
Three vehicles were damaged due to the collapse of a retaining wall near Sri Krishna Complex in Udupi in the early hours of Saturday, May 25. | Photo Credit: UMESH S. SHETTIGAR
Meanwhile, three two-wheelers were damaged when the compound wall near Krishna Complex, Old KSRTC Bus Stand, in Udupi collapsed due to heavy rains on Friday night.
Highest rainfall
According to Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA), Padupanambur Gram Panchayat, near Mulky in Dakshina Kannada district recorded the highest 192 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, May 25, in Karnataka.
It was followed by 133.5 mm of rainfall recorded at Kilpady, near Mulky, 133 mm at Chelyar, near Mangaluru, 127.5 mm at Bala, near Mangaluru, 104.5 mm near Moodbidri in Dakshina Kannada, and 102 mm rainfall recorded during the same period at Padumarnad near Mangaluru.
India Meteorological Department said on Saturday that heavy rain or thundershowers are very likely to occur at isolated places over Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on Sunday, May 26.
