Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Dec 17: The residents of Bayarhithlu area in Uppunda near Byndoor were in for a shock in the wee hours of Monday December 15. The water level in Sumanavati river, which is locally known as Uppunda river, started to swell all of a sudden. Even though the people were used to the tides on the new moon day and the full moon day, the  abruptly rising level the river water at the unearthly hour of 2 am shocked the people of the village.

The water, which normally remained within the confines of the river banks and stayed at a level of about 18 inches below the mark, rose suddenly, overflowed and entered the nearby fields. Standing groundnut and black gram crops in around 20 acres of land located by the sides of the river got destroyed, as saline water entered the fields and inundated them.

Reason for the untimely swelling of the river is not yet known. In the meanwhile, agricultural department officials, village accountant and gram panchayat representatives visited the village to assess the situation. The loss to standing crops is put at five lac rupees.