• Driver miraculously escapes as tree falls on moving autorickshaw on Vani Vilas Road
• Trees uprooted; electric poles damaged in different parts of city causing power outage

Mysore/Mysuru: Several parts of the district including Mysuru city received heavy rain accompanied by wind on Wednesday, adding to the woes of the people who are rattled by back to back downpour, but in intervals since Friday last. Though it rained in the wee hours of Wednesday, the intensity of rainfall in the night was more, but less compared to the downpour received last week. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported.

The rain accompanied by lightning began at around 8.10 pm and lasted for one-and-a-half hours, that caught many off guard. The trees uprooted and the branches fell on electric line, leading to disruption in vehicular traffic and power outage at places.  

A huge tree on Vani Vilas Road near KR Police Station uprooted and fell on the road, damaging a autorickshaw and a two-wheeler. The auto was passing through the stretch of the road, when the tree came crashing down. The driver identified as Anil had a miraculous escape while the  rear portion of the three-wheeler was severely damaged. A major tragedy was averted, as there were no passengers in the auto at the time of the incident.

Similarly, a fully grown coconut tree got uprooted near the over-bridge on MG Road, bringing the vehicular traffic to a screeching halt. The branches of several trees also fell on the roads at Chamundipuram, Lakshmipuram, Kuvempunagar, Kalidasa Road in VV Mohalla, Yadavagiri Railway Under Bridge, Mirza Road in Nazarbad, Alanahalli on Mysuru-T. Narasipur Road, Rajivnagar and several other localities.

A total of nine teams, one in each of nine zones of MCC including vehicles; one JCB, two tippers, one bulldozer, one ladder and four of Abhaya personnel and six others totalling 10 personnel in each teams, are involved in simultaneous operations to clear the trees and branches.

The operation started early in the morning and is expected to be over today afternoon. They were involved in similar operation after the downpour yesterday night also, it is said.

On the other hand, MCC’s  Horticulture Division staff have also taken up pruning of dried tree branches since yesterday itself to avoid any further damages due to rainfall.

Overall, the copious rains at different intervals on three days have brought respite to the people who were reeling under sweltering heat, never experienced in the recent years.

Dry, broken tree branches axed on Mirza road

Dry and dangling tree branches were removed near City Police Commissioner’s Office on Mirza Road in city on Wednesday.

The personnel attached to Abhaya squad, the emergency rescue wing of MCC along with outsourced personnel were involved in the operation, along with the assistance of ladders and cranes.

Following the heavy rainfall received in city on Friday last, several trees were uprooted and the incidents of branches falling on the roads were reported from different parts of the city, keeping Abhaya teams on their toes.