Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Flood situation grim in villages on the banks of Krishna, Bhima rivers in Gulbarga district

Special Correspondent

Forty-two houses affected, steps taken to evacuate 15 of the worst affected families

ENGULFED: Cattle wading through the surging floodwaters in the Bhima near Kattisangavi in Jewargi taluk in Gulbarga district on Friday.

GULBARGA: The flood situation in villages on the banks of the Krishna and Bhima and their tributaries in the district took a serious turn on Friday with floodwaters engulfing several villages and disrupting road links to villages in Jewargi, Chitapur, Afsalpur and Surpur.

Official sources said here on Friday that the situation was more serious with respect to the Krishna and road links to many villages remained disrupted following release of water from the Narayanpur dam. Added to this, floodwaters from the Bhima joining the Krishna have worsened the situation in the villages on the banks of the Krishna.

The situation in some of villages such as Thinthani in Surpur taluk was serious with floodwaters entering human habitations. The district administration has pressed into service motorised boats and rafters to shift those affected to relief camps set up in the Thinthani temple. Sources said floodwaters in the Krishna entered the village. Forty-two houses were affected and steps had been taken to evacuate 15 of the worst affected families.

Agricultural fields with standing paddy crops in villages on the banks of the Krishna have been damaged. According to reports, connectivity to many villages have been cut off owing to flooding of bridges and approach roads.

The level of the river at many points, including at the Thinthani Bridge, is said to be rising at an alarming rate causing some concern to officials involved in relief operations. Sources said the inflow into the Narayanpur dam continued to be very high at 3.50 lakh cusecs and the outflow from the reservoir was 3.54 lakh cusecs.

The flood situation in the Bhima continued to be grim with more villages added to the list of those affected. Road links remained paralysed. Afsalpur taluk is reported to be the worst hit. In Chitapur, the floodwaters cut off links to Kadehalli, Kadabur and Kollur.

However, the floodwaters in the Bhima have not entered human habitations, although the level of the river is rising sharply.

Drinking water supply to Narayanpur town has been disrupted for the past two days owing to submersion of the pump house near the dam.

Sources said the flood situation in the Bhima was likely to improve in the next 36 hours .

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