Agriculture Department officials conducting an inspection of the fertilizer stocks in Kodagu on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
There is no shortage of fertilizers in Kodagu, and farmers in the district need not worry about the availability of fertilizers, stated Chandrashekar, Joint Director of Agriculture, Kodagu, in a press release.
The official stated that 90,444 MT of fertilizers have been made available to farmers in the district, and 60,126 MT have already been distributed. The remaining 30,318 MT are currently in stock, and they include 5,855 MT of urea, 1,643 MT of DAP, 5,526 MT of MOP, 16,250 MT of NPK Complex, and 1,043 MT of SSP.
The Joint Director said farmers are engaged in agricultural activities, with the sowing of paddy and maize crops in full progress in the district, in view of good rainfall. Out of the total sowing target of 30,525 hectares, sowing or transplantation has been completed so far in 5,864 hectares.
This year, it was estimated that 88,677 MT of fertilizers were required for agriculture, horticulture and coffee crops in Kodagu. Various manufacturing companies supplied 54,520 MT of fertilizers as of July 28.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / July 29th, 2025
Torrential rains continued to lash Kodagu district, triggering landslides, overflowing rivers, and widespread panic among residents. The worst affected is the Shaktinagar area near Madikeri, where more than 60 families have been forced to vacate their homes due to fear of landslides.
The relentless downpour has caused rivers, streams, and rivulets across the district to swell beyond danger levels. In Shaktinagar of Mekeri village, located on a vulnerable hill slope, the threat of soil erosion has left residents in deep anxiety. Authorities have covered the vulnerable area with tarpaulin sheets in an attempt to prevent further damage.
District officials have stepped up vigilance across Kodagu as the current weather situation draws parallels to the devastating floods of 2018. Powerful winds accompanying the rain have uprooted hundreds of trees and electric poles, further worsening the situation.
In a related incident, a massive tree fell on a moving car in Bajegundi village, Somwarpet taluk. The driver, Charan, had a miraculous escape with no injuries reported.
Meanwhile, water has been discharged from the Harangi reservoir into the Harangi and Cauvery rivers, which are now flowing dangerously over their banks. In Kushalnagar taluk’s Hudugur area, coffee plantations and paddy fields have already been submerged, and fears are growing that homes in low-lying areas could soon be inundated.
Several roads across the district have been affected. A large tree fell across the Madikeri–Somwarpet highway, bringing traffic to a standstill for over an hour. In Ponampet taluk, many low-lying areas are submerged, and the Balyamandur–Harihara road has been rendered impassable.
The district administration, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), has been placed on high alert, closely monitoring the situation. Residents have been advised to avoid unnecessary travel and to remain vigilant as rain and strong winds are expected to continue.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Daijiworld Media Network – Kodagu / July 27th, 2025
HDMC yet to get approval from govt to install them near Kargil Stupa.
Bronze busts of military commanders from Karnataka gather dust at HDMC office. DH photo
The bronze busts of three renowned military commanders from Karnataka carved for installing on the premises of the Kargil Stupa in Dharwad are gathering dust at the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) zonal office for the past seven years.
In 2017, the HDMC decided to install 2.5-feet-high and 2-feet-wide bronze busts of Field Marshal K M Cariappa, General K S Thimayya, and General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor, along with a national emblem of similar size near the Kargil Stupa. The HDMC had sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for the creation of these statues. Artists from Mumbai sculpted and delivered the statues to the corporation. Thus the busts were readied as per the plan but they were not installed.
According sources, the inauguration was initially scheduled for January 28, 2018. However, since government permission is mandatory for installing statues of prominent leaders in public spaces, the process got stalled. What’s more surprising is that even after all these years, no proposal has been sent to the state government to seek this approval, the sources said.
North Karnataka Soldiers’ Welfare Committee president Chandrashekhar Aminagad, who was instrumental in seeing up Kargil Stupa in memory of Kargil victory, expressed regret that despite approaching HDMC and urging elected representatives, there has been no progress on installing these statues.
“If the statues were not meant to be installed, why spend Rs 10 lakh of public money on them? Why are they lying idle in a zonal office? At the very least, could they not be temporarily placed at the deputy commissioner’s office to offer them some respect?” he questioned.
Aminagad pointed out that neither he nor the office-bearers of the committee are soldiers or ex-servicemen, but are patriots. It was in this spirit that India’s first Kargil memorial was established in Dharwad in 2002. Since then, several welfare programmes have been organised for serving and retired soldiers. Had the statues of these military commanders also been installed, the site would have gained historical significance. He expressed concern about when the state government would finally approve the installation.
Reacting to this, Mayor Jyoti Patil said that the installation of busts has been delayed due to the need approval from the state government. “Ideally, this approval should have been sought back in 2017. The matter will now be raised in the upcoming July general body meeting, and a letter will be sent to the state government so that the statues can be installed at the earliest,” the mayor said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> India> Karnataka / by Srinidhi R / July 25th, 2025
Harangi reservoir outflow increased to 25,000 cusecs owing to heavy rain in the catchment area, say irrigation officials; IMD issues orange alert for Kodagu district.
A house damaged due to incessant rain at Kurchi village of Srimangala Hobli in Kodagu district on Sunday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The hilly district of Kodagu continued to be battered by incessant rains, with widespread damage to property reported during the last 48 hours.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more rains for the district and issued an orange alert.
There were incidents of telephone and electricity poles being uprooted and collapsing onto residential buildings, vehicles, or blocking roads and disrupting traffic movement on Sunday.
A portion of the Anganwadi centre in Harduru village in Somwarpet was damaged when a giant tree collapsed in the early hours of Sunday due to heavy rains and a gale that lashed the region.
A family in Madegodu village in Shanivarsanthe was shifted from their house as its walls developed major cracks. A portion of the house also collapsed, and the authorities who took stock of the situation declared the building unfit for occupation due to the imminent threat of complete collapse. The family was shifted to a room behind the house.
Similar reports have emerged from Emmemadu in Napoklu, Uluguli in Suntikoppa, Hoskote, Sampaje, Guddehosur in Kushalnagar and other places. In Surlabbhi village, heavy rains and gales damaged the tiled roof of the local higher primary school.
In Koodumangaluru village, Kushalnagar, a family of two was relocated as their house was damaged due to incessant rains, and the walls were on the verge of collapse when the officials visited to assess the rain damage.
Residents of Biligeri in Somawarpet were shifted to a relief centre as the water level in a local water body was steadily increasing, threatening to maroon the village.
Meanwhile, the Irrigation Department announced that outflow from the Harangi reservoir has been increased to 25,000 cusecs due to heavy rains in the catchment area of the river. Officials from the Revenue Department visited the area near the dam to take stock of the security. This is because the Yadavanadu bridge has submerged due to an increase in outflow from the dam. The public has been advised against venturing close to the dam, and the approach roads have been barricaded as a security and safety measure.
In Kanive village, Kushalnagar, the suspension bridge across Cauvery river was in danger of being submerged. Hence, the officials have erected barricades to prevent people from using it. Similarly, tourists were restricted from visiting the Rameshwara temple due to the surge in water level of the river.
Meanwhile, the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) said that damage to electricity poles and interruptions to power supply were reported at many places due to multiple incidents of tree falls. However, efforts were on to restore power, and the staff were working on a war-footing to restore normalcy, it added.
The district has received a cumulative rainfall of 89.11 mm during the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Sunday. Some of the places which recorded very heavy rains include Napoklu (80.2 mm), Bhagamandala (117.2 mm), Ammati (91.5 mm), Shanthalli (238 mm), Hudikeri (191.8 mm), Srimangala (166 mm), Ponnampet (60 mm) among others.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / July 27th, 2025
Karnataka Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday said that the construction of new Taluk Administration Buildings (Prajasaudha) in Ponnampet and Kushalnagar in Kodagu district will begin shortly.
He was speaking to media persons during his visit to the district. The Minister noted that though the two taluks were created more than 7 years ago, taluk offices have not yet been constructed, and said that the projects for the same would be expedited.
The government has sanctioned ₹8.65 crore each for the two buildings, and the tender process has been completed, he added.
Mr. Byre Gowda also inspected the proposed sites for the buildings and visited a bridge near Balyamandur. He said that the government was accelerating efforts to scan and digitally preserve original land ownership records across taluk offices to ensure landowners have guaranteed access to their documents.
“Preserving land records and making them accessible at the fingertips of landowners is the core objective of the Land Security Scheme,” said the Minister. The initiative aims to prevent loss, tampering, or forgery of land records, which often leads to disputes, he added.
With regard to digitisation of land records, the Minister said that the department has already scanned 33.5 crore pages of land records against the target of completing the scan of 100 crore pages of documents and records across Karnataka. This, he said, would serve as a legal guarantee for land records.
Mr. Byre Gowda emphasised the need for strict implementation of recent reforms in the Revenue Department and urged officials to adopt modern technology to deliver citizen services efficiently.
On the issue of recurring landslides in Kodagu, the Minister said that the government will allocate ₹50 crore for constructing retaining walls. The funds will be released soon by the Chief Minister, he added.
The Minister said full ownership rights would be extended to rightful landowners, and records dating back 30 to 40 years would be rectified where necessary, offering a long-term solution.
MLA for Virajpet A.S. Ponnanna apprised the Minister of rain damage in Kodagu district. Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu Venkat Raja, ZP CEO Anand Prakash Meena, and officials from PWD and various other departments were present.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / July 25th, 2025
Babu was working as a staff nurse at a hospital in Guyana for the past two years. He was availing treatment at the same hospital since July 3. However, he passed away due to heavy internal bleeding and a heart attack on July 14.
Representative image showing a dead body.Credit: iStock Photo
Madikeri:
The state government has provided Rs 3.60 lakh to bring back the body of P B Girish Babu Pale, a native of Madenadu village in the taluk, who passed away in Guyana of South America recently.
Babu was working as a staff nurse at a hospital in Guyana for the past two years. He was availing treatment at the same hospital since July 3. However, he passed away due to heavy internal bleeding and a heart attack on July 14.
His wife Janaki, living in Bengaluru along with their two-year-old son, had requested the government for assistance to bring back his body to India. The expenses will be to the tune of Rs 12 lakh, she had said.
Accordingly, a request was placed before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by the NRI Forum. The chief minister has sanctioned Rs 3.60 lakh from the government. The hospital has agreed to bear the rest of the amount, it is said.
Karnataka NRI forum vice president’s special duty officer H S Satish has stated that the body of Girish Babu will be flown from Guyana to India, with the help of the Indian Embassy and the office of the High Commission in New Delhi, India.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> India> Karnataka / by DHNS / July 24th, 2025
Writer Harini Nagendra’s newest instalment in the best-selling series, Bangalore Detectives Club, sees protagonist Kaveri solving mysteries across 1920s B’luru & the forests of Kodagu
The cover of Into The Leopard’s Den
An elderly woman lies bleeding out on the floor of her ramshackle hut – an intruder turning her home inside out in search of something she refuses to surrender. As this mysterious killer discovers the object and flees, she clutches a picture of Bengaluru’s famous female detective Kaveri. Thrusting it into the hands of a boy who discovers her, she breathes her last with a plea on her lips – find the killer.
Into the Leopard’s Den (`499; Hachette), the fourth volume of writer Harini Nagendra’s best-selling cosy mystery series, Bangalore Detectives Club, dives straight into the tangled knots of this mystery, with the now pregnant 21-year-old detective, Kaveri, determined to unravel them all.
This time, the case leads her to the lush coffee plantations of Kodagu, leaving her motley crew of inquisitive neighbour aunty Uma, street urchin Venu and housemaid Anandi to investigate in Bengaluru. “While staying in the house of coffee plantation owner Lakamma, she learns of stories of a ghost leopard terrorising the place and scaring the workers away. At the same time, an exploitative British plantation owner’s life is in danger from multiple attacks,” explains Nagendra.
As an ecologist, the author’s environmental concerns come to the forefront stronger than in the previous three instalments, addressing colonialism’s ecological destruction alongside the murder mystery. “You get an insight into the time – the British expanded coffee production into the forest a lot but at a huge cost – the exploitation of labour, but also an ecological cost to the landscape,” she explains.
The Bengaluru of a century ago comes alive in these pages as the reader is transported to places that are familiar yet different. Nagendra explains her fascination with the period, nestled between two world wars and intimately associated with detective fiction from Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories to Miss Marple, Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s popular Byomkesh Bakshi series, and more. “The 1920s were a very interesting period in Bengaluru because while the rest of India was actively involved in the independence struggle, the Mysore Maharajas had a mediating influence here. While most books about the period have focused on Bombay, Delhi, and Kolkata, I wanted to talk about what it was like to live in Bengaluru at the time.” she explains.
Nagendra also makes it a point to include real women from the time (such as journalist Kalyanamma) or characters inspired by real women, with Lakamma being based on ‘coffee pudi’ Sakamma, an influential businesswoman.
This, with Kaveri’s independent, intelligent, and headstrong character, turns stereotypes of women of this period on its head. “A feminist discussion runs through the entire series because Kaveri is very strongly what we would call a feminist in these times. There were also a lot of independent women stepping out of the house for the first time in the 1920s,” says Nagendra, adding that at the same time, many, like her mother, grandmother and mother-in-law, were denied higher education. For her, imagining a character like Kaveri is partly a way of setting history right.
Kaveri and her doctor husband Ramu’s relationship, from a newly-wed couple to expectant parents, is a sweet and heartwarming thread in the series. Nagendra reveals that this loving yet nuanced depiction of an Indian arranged-married couple was a deliberate decision, keeping both her local and global readership in mind.
“There is often a feeling that Indian relationships are exploitative, always involving subjugation. I wanted to write about a regular but happy marriage of those times,” says Nagendra, adding, “Ramu is a traditional man, raised in a traditional family, married to an independent woman whom he didn’t really understand very well. But he wants to be supportive and over time, he understands her better, I’ve been enjoying seeing their relationship grow.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Bengaluru / by Mahima Nagaraju / July 23rd, 2025
Heavy to very heavy rains in August means the hilly district ends up receiving 20 to 30 days of precipitation within a week, resulting in wide-spread damage to property, localized flooding and crop loss, apart from landslides.
A below-normal rainfall in Kodagu during July tends to be followed by heavy to very heavy rains in August. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Notwithstanding the comfortable storage positions in the major reservoirs of the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, the catchment area in Kodagu district has received below normal rain in July, and has triggered an alert in the district administration.
Reason?
A below-normal rainfall during July tends to be followed by heavy to very heavy rains in August. The hilly district ends up receiving 20 to 30 days of precipitation within a week, resulting in wide-spread damage to property, localized flooding and crop loss, apart from landslides.
Though it is not the rule, public memory of the devastation caused in 2018, and similar trends in the following two to 3 years, has kept residents and officials on edge.
Hence, there is a heightened alert in Kodagu every time the rainfall is below normal in the district. The district tends to be pro-active for emergency response, identifying areas vulnerable to flash floods or landslides, and conducting a dry-run of emergency response with the involvement of the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and other departments, to handle any eventuality.
At a recently convened meeting of the District Disaster Management Authority, Deputy Commissioner Venkat Raja cautioned officials against complacency due to lull in rainfall in July. He issued clear instructions to all officials to remain vigilant until the end of August.
The Deputy Commissioner pointed out that while there was heavy rainfall in the last week of May and throughout June this year, the rainfall in July has been below normal. Hence, he impressed upon officials the possibility of heavy rains in the coming days, and the imperatives of taking appropriate precautionary measures in their respective jurisdictions.
The DC called for additional precautions to be taken to protect anganwadi, school, and college buildings, apart from protecting livestock. “Attention should also be paid to preventing damage to government buildings from falling trees,” he added, and called for precautionary steps, such as trimming of branches.
The Deputy Commissioner advised informing the Forest Department in advance if there are trees in a hazardous condition.
Engineers from the Public Works Department and Panchayat Raj Department have been instructed to work in tandem with the tahsildars, who have to keep the authorities informed of rain-related damage in their respective localities. Additionally, the Deputy Commissioner instructed tahsildars to carry out spot inspections.
District Superintendent of Police K. Ramarajan suggested that forest check posts be opened at various locations, including Anechowkur and Maldare, and called for deploying police personnel at these check-posts for better coordination.
Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) engineers were instructed to ensure additional poles and transformers are available for installation wherever required.
Tahsildars, taluk panchayat executive officers, Additional Deputy Commissioner R. Aishwarya, CESC engineer Ramachandra, and officers from various departments participated in the video conference.
According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), Kodagu has received 468 mm of rainfall from July 1st to July 21st, which is 21% below normal, and is under deficit category. In the taluks, Virajpet has received 295 mm, which is 44% below normal, Ponnampet has received 366 mm, which is 30% below normal, and comes under deficit category.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> India> Karnataka / by The Hindu Bureau / July 22nd, 2025
“This Too Shall Pass,” a debut poetry collection by Muskan Sufi, a young Kodagu student studying in Mysuru, has earned international recognition after being nominated for the prestigious Indie Authors Award 2025, held in memory of American poet Emily Dickinson. The book is now available for purchase online on Amazon.
Muskan Sufi, a student of English Literature and Psychology at St. Philomena’s College, Mysuru, hails from Virajpet in Kodagu and belongs to the Kodava Muslim community. Her literary achievement has drawn attention not only for its quality but also for the quiet determination that brought her recognition at a young age.
Published by the internationally acclaimed Bookleaf Publication, This Too Shall Pass was born out of Muskan’s participation in the publisher’s “21 Poems in 21 Days” challenge. She surpassed expectations by writing more than 28 poems, which resulted in a 50-page collection of emotionally rich, thought-provoking verse.
Her poems explore themes of pain, healing, nature, death, and the complexities of human emotion. With modern and socially conscious subjects, Muskan’s writing brings to life the inner turbulence of individuals and the beauty of life’s fleeting moments. She uses simple yet powerful language, aiming to connect souls and provide hope to those facing life’s darkest times.
Thousands of poets participate in Bookleaf’s global poetry initiatives, and the top entries are selected for book publication and nomination to the Indie Authors Award. Muskan’s nomination has created a ripple in the English literary community, marking a proud moment for the Kodava Muslim community.
Expressing her joy, Muskan said, “I joined the challenge after coming across the campaign on social media. I’ve always loved writing English poetry, but I never imagined my poems would be published or nominated for such a prestigious award. It’s given me great motivation to pursue more literary work.”
Muskan is the daughter of Duddiyanda H. Sufi and Masuda Sufi, who head the DHS Group of Companies in Virajpet. Her father also serves as the president of the Kodava Muslim Association (KMA).
Muskan’s poetry book, This Too Shall Pass, is now available for purchase on Amazon.
source: http://www.hindustangazette.com / The Hindustan Gazette / Home> News> Latest News / by The Hindustan Gazette / pix:kannada.hindustangazette.com / July 21st, 2025
WELCOME. If you like what you see "SUBSCRIBE via EMAIL" to receive FREE regular UPDATES.
Read More »
