The Hindu : Front Page : Eight more villages flooded in Bijapur, Bagalkot districts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 31, 2005

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Eight more villages flooded in Bijapur, Bagalkot districts

Staff Correspondent

Bhima flowing two metres over danger mark

NATURE'S FURY: The Bhima washed away more than an acre of land at Gubbewad village in Indi taluk on Saturday.

BIJAPUR: The Krishna, Bhima and Ghataprabha rivers flooded at least eight more villages in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts in the last 24 hours. Rising floodwaters have submerged at least 20,000 acres of agricultural land in villages along the river and inundated several villages.

The district authorities have asked Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. (KBJNL) to reduce the water level at Alamatti and Narayanpur reservoirs by at least 1.5 metres from the present level. On Saturday afternoon, KBJNL had increased the discharge to 2.75 lakh cusecs, and it crossed 3.1 lakh cusecs by Saturday evening.

The record discharge from the Alamatti Dam flooded Turadagi, Bommanagi and Katagur villages in Hungund taluk. A red alert has been sounded downstream of the Narayanpur reservoir as the discharge is likely to cross 3.5 lakh cusecs. According to sources, the discharge from the dam was increased to 3.06 lakh cusecs on Saturday afternoon.

The Deputy Commissioner of Bagalkot district, K.S. Prabhakar, who toured some of the flood-affected villages, told The Hindu over telephone that water has entered residential areas in Turadagi and Nandagaum, and around 100 families have been shifted to safer places.

Evacuated

The Bhima flooded Dasur village in Indi taluk and villagers were evacuated on Saturday afternoon. Tarapur village in Sindagi has also been flooded and heavy landslides have been reported at Gubbewad village. Over an acre of agriculture land at Gubbewada was washed away in the last 24 hours, according to Sharanappa Dhule, the owner.

The water-level in the Bhima is two metres above the danger mark, and the level at Takli bridge was 11.5 metres. On the banks of the Bhima alone, around 5,000 acres of agricultural land has been submerged.

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