Madikeri: Even as locals are worried lot with cracks appearing on Brahmagiri Hills, in yet another shock for them, huge cracks have appeared on Gajarajagiri Hills of Brahmagiri Hill range.

The Brahmagiri Hill range is spread across the Karnataka-Kerala border with Kodagu to the North and Wayanad to the South.

New cracks have appeared at a height of 200 mts from the vehicle parking spot at the entrance to Talacauvery.

Heavy rains for the past few days has compounded the problems, with cracks (Chasms) getting wider and deeper, thus posing a threat to the houses of priests located on the foot of the hill.

With cracks appearing on the Hill range, Madikeri Tahsildar Mahesh, DFO Prabhakaran and other officials visited the spot on Sunday and asked Talacauvery Temple priests to vacate the houses, as there was every chance of a partial collapse of the Hill if the deluge continued for a few more days.

Meanwhile, Geologists have advised the Kodagu District Administration to evacuate all houses and shops at the foot of the Brahmagiri Hill range as deep cracks have appeared at several spots.

Local residents have been reporting cracks in the range since Aug.19. They also complained that the cracks are running deep and all development and construction works in and around the Hill should be stopped.

Following the appearance of cracks, the District Administration sought a report from the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

Based on the GSI report, the Kodagu District Administration directed the Forest Department to take up temporary restoration works immediately to avert any danger.

With cracks getting very big, locals are afraid of visiting nearby areas. They also express concern that if the rain continues for a few more days, the Brahmagiri Hill range, which includes Gajarajagiri Hill, may witness more landslides. The locals want the District Administration to crack down on development activities in the Hill range, as the widening cracks pose a threat not only to the Hill range,  but also to Talacauvery, the birth place of River Cauvery, which is a life-line to crores of people in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.