Bengaluru reports 3441 new COVID-19 cases, 3021 recoveries

Coronavirus

The positivity rate for the day was 7.12%, better than the average positive rate of the state over the last 7 days which is at 9.3% and the cumulative positivity rate of 12%.

TNM Staff

PTI/Representation Photo

Bengaluru reported 3,441 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. With a total of 3,021 people discharged following their recovery, the total number of active cases in the city stands at 65,664. With 24 new deaths, the total number of deaths related to COVID-19 reached 3,486. Across the state, the daily cases rose by 7,542 for the day, while 8,580 persons were discharged, 1,12,427 patients are currently undergoing treatment for coronavirus in the state. A total of 73 new deaths were reported in Karnataka in 24 hours. With this, the COVID-19 death toll in the state rose to 10,356. Among the 84 deaths, 12 patients did not have any known comorbidities;13 of those who were reported dead on Friday were of below the age of 60 years. Most of the deceased patients had hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney diseases. Among the active patients undergoing treatment in the state, a total of 946 persons are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Among these, 359 are from Bengaluru while Dharwad has 80 patients in ICU. Only Ballari (75), Chamrajanagara (43) and Kalaburagi (34) have more than 30 patients undergoing treatment in ICU in the rest of the state. Mysuru (404), Bengaluru Rural (345), Belagavi (289), Chikkaballapura (270), Dakshina Kannada (220), Mandya (246)  were the other districts that reported more than 200 cases for the day. The media bulletin on Thursday evening said that a total of 1,05,891 tests were conducted in 24 hours, of which 77, 930 were tested through RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction), CB-NAAT and TrueNat test kits while 27,961 antigen tests were conducted. With this, the positivity rate for the day was 7.12%, better than the average positive rate of the state over the last 7 days which is at 9.3% and the cumulative positivity rate of 12%.

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Karnataka HC removes petitioner in PIL against Cauvery Calling, case now suo motu petition

Court

The court had earlier directed the petitioner to justify his action of sending emails to a channel about airing a programme on Cauvery Calling.

Prajwal Bhat

Jaggi Vasudev

The Karnataka High Court has converted the public interest litigation filed against Isha Foundation collecting money from farmers to fund its Cauvery Calling initiative into a suo-motu petition. A division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Sreeniwas Oka and Justice Ashok S Kinagi had directed the petitioner Amarnathan AV, an advocate from Bengaluru, to justify his act of sending three emails to Discovery Channel about airing a programme on the Cauvery Calling project. In his affidavit in response, Amarnathan justified his conduct saying that he did not threaten the channel but informed them that airing the programme on Cauvery Calling may attract contempt of court. Amarnathan sent three emails to Discovery Channel and they were brought to the notice of the High Court which took exception to his conduct pointing out that a petitioner cannot decide if airing the program will amount to contempt of court. The programme on Cauvery Calling was scheduled to air on August 24 but after receiving the legal intimation from Amarnathan, it was postponed. The court then decided that it cannot allow the petitioner to prosecute the petition as a pro-bono litigant. The next hearing in the case will be on November 3. The High Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) questioning the Karnataka government for supporting Cauvery Calling,  a nationwide agroforestry project focused on the Cauvery river. Since its launch in September 2019, the foundation, which enjoys the patronage of celebrities, industrialists and politicians, has collected enough money to plant over 5 crore trees through contributions from the public. Isha Foundation submitted to the High Court in March this year that its social development branch Isha Outreach was dealing with Cauvery Calling. While hearing the case, the Karnataka High Court asked Isha to clarify what is the Karnataka government's role in Cauvery Calling.  Read: What is Karnataka govt’s role in Cauvery Calling? Conflicting stands in and outside court   Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced in September 2019 that the forest department in the state would set aside two crore saplings for Cauvery Calling but an affidavit in the High Court stated  Cauvery Calling was contributing to a government scheme of the Karnataka Forest Department – Krishi Aranya Protsaha Yojane (KAPY). The affidavit made no mention of the two crore saplings that Isha can use. The PIL will now be converted into a suo motu case with the court appointing an amicus curaie to assist the court.  Read: HC asks Karnataka govt to clarify whose project is 'Cauvery Calling'    

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Even as rains recede, heavy inflow from Maharashtra dams floods north Karnataka

Floods

On Friday, CM BS Yediyurappa directed district administrations to shift residents of villages in river basins to relief camps.

Theja Ram

Although rains have receded in north Karnataka, floods have not abated in several districts including Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Yadgir on Friday. Heavy discharge of water from two dams in Maharashtra has submerged around 400 villages in the three districts, bringing daily life to a standstill. According to the district administration in Kalaburagi, the inflow of water from the Sonna Barrage in Vijayapura has resulted in floods in the district. Meanwhile, the Vijayapura district administration said that 5.11 lakh cusecs of water was released on Thursday from the Ujjaini Dam in Maharashtra, which resulted in heavy inflow into the Sonna Barrage constructed across the Bhima River. This inflow increased to 5.4 lakh cusecs on Friday.  The heavy discharge of water from the Sonna Barrage has flooded 150 villages in Kalaburagi located in Jewargi, Chittapura, Afzalpur, and Sedam taluk. “These are the villages located in the Bhima river basin,” officials said. In Kalaburagi, the Malkhed bridge and Dandoti bridge were submerged completely, cutting off inter-district connectivity. However, the floodwaters near Dandoti receded on Friday, officials added.  In Chittapur taluk’s Sannati village, over 40 residents were stranded on Thursday night as the village was partially flooded. Residents of Sannati village, who were being rescued on Friday, said that they waited on their rooftops and were crying for help. “We have shifted them to school buildings or temples where there is space to maintain physical distance,” officials with the Kalaburagi district administration said.  In Vijayapura, around 200 villages in Chadchan, Indi, Sindhagi and Alamelu taluks have flooded. In Alamelu taluk’s Tharapur, the flood submerged the entire village. While locals said that rescue personnel had arrived on Thursday, not all residents were able to get out of their flooded homes. On Friday, Fire and Emergency Service personnel began rescue and rehabilitation operations in Tharapur.  /p> “This is a problem we face every year during monsoon. This year, especially, it has been very unfortunate. The toor dal, jowar, cotton and onion crops have been damaged completely. The ministers and MLAs come here to ask for our votes but when we need them, they don’t help us at all. Who will find a solution to this problem we face?” questioned Shivappa Lawate, a resident of Tharapur, who was awaiting rescue since Thursday night.  The Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Tungabhadra, Almatti and Narayanapura, reservoirs were filled to the brim affecting Yadgir, Raichur, Ballari, Bidar, Vijayapura, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Gadag, Koppal, Haveri and Dharwad districts in north Karnataka on Thursday. Although the floods have not abated, it was Yadgir, Kalaburagi and Vijayapura that were worst hit on Friday, officials with the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre said.  On Friday, Chief  Minister BS Yediyurappa held a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners of the 12 flood-hit districts. The state government has released Rs 85.46 crore for relief and rehabilitation works. In a statement, the Chief Minister’s office said that Yediyurappa has directed the district administration to shift all residents in villages near the river basins prone to flooding to relief camps, which they are currently in the process of setting up. As many as 12 NDRF teams have been formed to carry our rescue and relief works. 

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