Srirangapatna: The two centuries old Wellesley Bridge in Srirangapatna has submerged, with river Cauvery flowing in full spate, damaging the retaining wall of the road connecting the bridge and washing away the road, severely inconveniencing the nearby villagers.

Following torrential rains in Cauvery basin, Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam, that has reached its brim, is discharging heavy quantity of water. The outflow from the Dam to Cauvery River on Wednesday night was a whopping 1.72 lakh cusecs of water, following the impact of which, Wellesley Bridge built across River Cauvery 200 years ago was submerged. If the situation continues, it may pose further danger, according to sources in Department of Water Resources.

The knee-high flood water is overflowing on Kirangur Road that connects the bridge, aggravating the situation further. It is a redux of the situation that had been witnessed, 13 years after the construction works of KRS Dam began, during the time of which, there was severe floods due to heavy rains in Cauvery basin as 2.9 lakh cusecs of water was released into Cauvery River at that time. It is still considered as the biggest flood ever in the history of Cauvery River, as 11-feet high flood water was flowing above KRS Dam, which was still under construction. Wellesley Bridge had also submerged at that time, it is said. On the other hand, the remnants of several hundred years old Srirangapatna fort including the dungeons are falling in parts, due to rains.

During the tenure of MLA Ravindra Srikantaiah in 2019, the retaining wall of Wellesley Bridge had been washed away in the strong current of Cauvery River, a day after he carried out the inspection, by standing on the same wall, to take stock of the situation, in view of the flood threat.  Since then, no action was taken to rebuild the retaining wall. Now, the retaining wall of the road has collapsed, triggering anxious moments.

Following the incident, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Kumara, conducted the spot inspection.