Belagavi: The heavy rains that lashed over Belagavi district on Monday took a toll on the historically significant Savadatti fort.
Portions of the Fort collapsed due to the heavy rains.
The 18 century structure was not conserved, due to which it could not stand the onslaught of the heavy rains.
As per sources, an exterior wall, near the entrance and another wall inside the fort, near the well collapsed.
Located in the Savadatti town, on its western part, the fort is constructed over a small hill of stand-alone formation, which has flanks of exposed rocks.
The town in which the fort lies was ruled by the Ratta dynasty from 9th to 13th centuries, prior to shifting the capital to Belgaum. In 1730, the Savanur Nawab gifted Savadatti along with Dharwar village to the Naralgund Desai who built the fort in 1734.
It is also said that the fort was built by Jayappa Desai of the Navalgund Sirasangi Sansthan between 1743 and 1751. When the fort came under the control of Hyder Ali of Mysore, the Desai declared his allegiance to him.
The fort, built on a rising ground, is in the shape of a nine-sided polygon.
Heavy rains have been lashing Belagavi district since Sunday. Flights that were supposed to land at the Belagavi airport from Tirupati, Hyderabad and Bengaluru were diverted to airports in Hyderabad and Hubballi.
the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red warning for coastal districts predicting heavy rainfall. Orange warning was issued for parts of north interior and south interior Karnataka including Bagalkot, Belagavi, Raichur, Yadgir, Kalaburagi, Chikmagalur, Hassan, Kodagu and Shivamogga districts.
