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Konkan faces monsoon fury

Special Correspondent

Total death toll 924; Alamatti Dam gates opened to prevent backwater effect

MUMBAI: Heavy rain continued to lash Konkan and Western half of Maharashtra on Monday, forcing the State Government to open flood gates of different dams to prevent breaches and widespread flooding.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters that Karnataka had accepted his suggestion and opened the gates of Alamatti Dam and that had enabled the State to release 3.75 lakh cusecs water from Krishna, Koyna and Warna rivers.

The opening of Alamatti Dam gates reduced the water level in its reservoir by three feet, thereby accommodating Maharashtra flow without any backwater effect. This has helped the flood situation in Maharashtra. The water in Koyna reservoir has reached 90 TMC, just 10 TMC short of its total capacity. A rainfall of over 1,000 mm in the catchments areas of Koyna has caused the precarious situation in this part of the State.

The authorities have released 80,000 cusecs from the Koyna reservoir and have alerted Patan, Karad, Sangli and Kolhapur towns against the danger of flood. Three columns of the Army equipped with boats and rescue gear have been deployed in the area.

Power generation from the Koyna project has also been suspended to avoid release of water into the already flooded Chiplun area of Ratnagiri district of the Konkan region.

The floodgates of Bhatghar and Veer Dams near Pune have been opened, releasing 50,000 cusecs of water into the Neera River. The Mulshi Dam water was released into Ujani Dam but since the latter is full, only 1.25 lakh cusec water was released.

This has increased the flow into the Chandrabhaga by 1.8 lakh cusecs and endangered the famous pilgrim centre, Pandharpur. Pandharpur has not received any heavy rainfall but the town is facing flood threat.

The Chief Minister said that about 60,000 people in the State were evacuated to safer places in view of flood threats.

Mr. Deshmukh scoffed at TV reports that a dam had breached and asserted that all dams in Maharashtra were safe. He urged the media to check and confirm with the Irrigation Department any information they would get about the dams.

He also urged the media not use old footage while reporting floods in the State so that people were not scared of any danger. He said that Monday's report that there would be high tide at a particular time did originate from the Meteorology Department but that the information was not meant for the people living on the shore but for deep-sea fishing vessels. The Chief Minister stressed the need for proper evaluation of technical relevance of such stories.

The death toll in the State rose to 924, including 425 in Mumbai, 60 in Navi Mumbai, 164 in Thane rural, 129 in Raigad, 16 in Sindhudurg and the rest in other districts.

Mr. Deshmukh said that the district collectors had been asked to send officers door to door to distribute the cash assistance of Rs. 5,000 to the flood-affected people.

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