K'taka: Huge crack in road due to widespread showers

Traffic on the state highway connecting Mangalore to neighbouring states came to a halt on Tuesday after a huge crack developed in the road, due to incessant rains.

"Mangalore division services of Pune, Hyderabad and Hubli route stands disrupted. Now, the services are operating via Sirsi," said Public Relation Officer (PRO) Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.

Scores of vehicles are stranded on the road between Ankola-Yellapur on National Highway 52 due to heavy rainfall in the state.

Pune-Banglore highway was also completely closed for traffic movement from Kolhapur, due to waterlogging on the highway following rains, last night.

There is a flood-like situation in northern parts of Karnataka due to Maharashtra releasing huge volumes of water from its reservoirs after heavy rainfall in the state.

The situation may further worsen as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its weather forecast, predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls likely at isolated places in parts of Karnataka over five days.

Strong winds with speed reaching up to 50 kmph have also been predicted by the IMD.

Yesterday, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in north Karnataka to take stock of the situation.