Shivamogga tremors: a ground report

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ShivamoggaShivamogga:

GROUND REPORT OF THE EARTH QUAKE THAT TOOK PLACE IN SHIVAMOGGA IN WESTERN GHATS

Earthquake of 2.2 Magnitude was experienced in many villages of Thirthahalli and Hosanagara Taluk of Shivamogga District on 03/02/2019 at 1.33 AM. The Karnataka State National Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) had recorded the epicenter of the earthquake as Vittalanagara a small village behind putige mutt about 2 Kms away from Thirthahalli Town off Thirthahalli – Koppa National Highway NH – 169. As per KSNDMC records the last major earthquake around Thirthahalli vicinity was recorded on 12th May 1975 at 3:09 AM and was recorded 4.7 on Richter scale. Mild tremors were also felt in many areas on 04/02/2019 at 12:20 PM but was not registered on Richter Scale. Today I along with TV9 team decided to undertake a journey of all the places that experienced earthquake or tremors on 3 and 4 of February 2019.

When we visited Vittalanagara, the epicenter of the 03/02/2019 earthquake we were told by the locals that they had experienced the tremors and were awakened by the falling utensils in the kitchen. However they acknowledged that the severierty of the tremor felt in Vittalanagar was far more less compared to the one felt at Yadur, Megaravalli, Shuntihakkalu and its vicinity.We also visited the stone quarry along the Thirthahalli – Koppa Highway along NH 169 and found that very large scale irreparable damage as already been done to the environment. Most of the residents of Vittalanagara and kuruvalli acknowledged off the camera that the earthquake was the consequence of the stone quarry mining in the sensitive area of the western ghat.

We then visited Yadur, Mani Dam and the surrounding villages in Hosanagara Taluk and were surprised and terrified by the narratives of the locals about the experience they had on that fate full day of 03/02/2019. Some of the important points that caught my attention and which were not by reported by the press are as follows:-

1. The villagers have been experiencing the tremors from past 4 years.
2. The tremor that was experienced on 03/02/2019 at 1:33 AM was compounded by the high intensity loud explosion sound that made them scary.
3. All the villages in the radius of around 25 to 30 Kms have experienced the same experience and were largely scared of the large explosion sound rather than tremors.
4. The feeling of being thrown out off the cot, feeling of something passing or moving below the ground, feeling of sitting in swing chair was experienced by all the villagers.
5. Two to three after tremors were also experienced but without the large explosion sound.
6. The large explosion sound was heard from the direction of Mani Dam backwaters.
7. This type of loud explosion was never ever recorded in this area but tremors have been occurring from past few years.
8. The water storage level in Mani Dam this year was pretty high than the normal.
9. No officer till date have visited the affected areas on behalf of District Administration to undertake precautionary measures and also to gauge the incident.

We visited Mani Dam built across Varahi River and recorded the following points:-
1. Varahi river originates in Hebbagilu near Agumbe in Western Ghats.
2. The dam is built to produce electricity and has two turbines each producing 4.5 MW i.e a total of 9 MW.
3. 5000 Cusecs of water is left daily to produce electricity in the Hosanagadi Under Ground Power House.
4. The gross storage capacity is this dam is 33.88 TMCFT ie. 959.50 MCuM
5. The water released every day is utilized to generate electricity at Hosanagadi (Varahi) Hydro Electric Project House which houses 4 turbines each producing 115 MW i.e. a total of 460 MW of power.

*SUMMARY OF THE INCIDENT AFTER UNDERTAKING THE TOUR OF AFFECTED AREAS*

If we draw a line from Vittalanagara to Agumbe Ghat, Vittalanagara to Hulikal Ghat and Agumbe Ghat to Hulikal Ghat, we will find an area of around 348 SqKm inclusive of 261 SqKm of catchment area of varahi dam being affected to earth quake. All the villages falling in this area like Ranjadakatte, Megaravalli, Hanasa, Vittalanagara, Kuruvalli, Melinakuruvalli, Karunapura, Naaluru, Kolige, Guddekeri, Honnetalu, Shiruru, Gardaragadde, Shuntihakkalu, Elimane, Hurali, Tairolli, Doddinamane, Agumbe, Sulugodu, Muttur, Hulikal and others have experienced the tremor along with the large explosion sound. The presence of two small pickup dam along with Hosangadi Underground Power House near Varahi Dam is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed. The above area has few villages like Agumbe, Hulikal and Yadur which experiences and records the highest rainfall for India along with Chirapunji. Last year i.e. in 2018, Yadur had recorded the highest rainfall in India. All the villages listed above falls in the sensitive zone (area) listed in the Gadgil and Kasturirangan report.

The similarities between the Madikeri disaster episode and Shivamogga is a matter of grave concern and needs to be addressed at the highest level on priority. Any disaster to the Mani dam will directly result in all the villages present adjacent to Varahi backwater being swept down to Udupi thereby having a direct effect on the people of Udupi (Especially Kundapura Taluk). Tremors were also felt at few places near Kundapura and hence there is an urgent need of detailed study of the area to be carried out by the scientists to ascertain the cause and severity of the earthquake. The reason behind the loud explosion sound should be ascertained and precautionary measures should be planned accordingly. Large scale mining, deforestation, uncontrolled disaster development are definitely the causes of the earthquake. If the Madikeri incident happens in Shivamogga the loss will definitely be 10 times more as this part of the country has more dams, wildlife sanctuaries, sensitive areas and is experiencing projects that are disaster to the environment. The carrying capacity of Agumbe and Hulikal Ghat has exceeded its limit and any mishap will definitely cut off the connectivity between Shivamogga and South Canara.

It’s wise to phase off the existing dams which are constructed for power generation in the way Germany is doing and start giving more importance to other source of power generation like Solar. Measuring the earthquake through Richter scale is outdated in many countries as it cannot register the small tremors and the accuracy of large earthquake is questionable. It’s time we start using Moment Magnitude Scale which is being used in most developed countries like USA to gauge the earthquake or tremors.

*##SAVE WESTERN GHATS###
##SAVE TREES##
##SAVE WATER##*