K'taka floods: Wall of historical Kittur Rani Chennamma Fort collapses

The historical fort in Belagavi district has been particularly bearing the brunt of heavy rains as water from the Koyna dam in neighbouring Maharashtra has been gushing into the Krishna river.

Karnataka: With heavy rains lashing parts of Karnataka, a 500-metre wall of the historical Kittur Rani Chennamma Fort collapsed on Tuesday in Belagavi district of the state.

Belagavi has been particularly bearing the brunt of heavy rains as water from the Koyna dam in neighbouring Maharashtra has been gushing into the Krishna river.

Schools have been shut and bus and train services have been cancelled in several districts of Karnataka as the flood situation worsened in the southern state.

Earlier, a 25-year-old man died at Hoskote in Bylahongal taluk of Belagavi district when the wall of his house crashed on him.

Besides the Krishna river, Markandeya, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha and Bheema rivers are also in full spate wreaking havoc in many parts of the state.

The worst affected districts include Belagavi, Vijayapura, Yadgiri, Raichur, Bagalkot, Hubballi-Dharwad, Shivamogga, Kodagu and Uttara Kannada.

Landslides were also reported from some of the affected districts, leading to disruption in the road and rail networks.

While thousands of hectares of land has been submerged, the National Highway - 4 from Pune to Bengaluru was disconnected at Belagavi.

The huge amount of water inflow in the Krishna river forced the Basava Sagara dam authorities in Vijayapura to open 21 of its 31 gates, official sources said.