Sulthan Bathery: Scores of people, including passengers of at least four KSRTC Swift buses travelling from Mysuru to Kozhikode, have been stranded in the forest area at Ponkuzhy near Muthanga since 6 pm due to flooding on the Kozhikode-Bengaluru National Highway (NH 766).

K K Abdul Shareef, DySP, Sulthan Bathery, said a police team has been deployed but it has yet to reach the location due to flooding. “We have sought the help of the Fire and Rescue from Sulthan Bathery to take the passengers to safety,” DySP Shareef said. The officer has reassured that camping facilities are available at nearby Ponkuzhy temple and food has also been arranged for the stranded passengers. “We are working on strategies to bring the passengers out of the flooded area,” the officer said.

Nizar, a native of Sulthan Bathery, who was travelling in a car, said those stranded did not step out of the vehicles as it was forest region. “With countless cars, SUVs and buses trapped midway, the passengers, including women and children, were in a tough situation,” Nizar said.
A source in the police told Onmanorama that traffic along the route had been suspended due to threat of flooding at Muthanga. With heavy rain lashing in the forest region, water level increased at various places along the NH since afternoon. While two-wheelers and cars could not pass, buses and trucks had got out of the area till evening. Those who had reached midway could not drive back to Karnataka due to night-traffic ban.