The Hindu : Front Page : Heavy rain, rising rivers put State administration on alert

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Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007
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Heavy rain, rising rivers put State administration on alert

Karnataka Bureau

Kumaraswamy, Yediyurappa to apprise the Prime Minister of the situation

Loss to electricity stations and roads put at over Rs. 75 crore
Standing crops on 5,588 hectares of land have been damaged

Awesome: The swollen Tunga flowing just three feet below the danger mark in Shimoga on Monday.

Bangalore: Although the rainy season has just begun, heavy rain and rising rivers in several districts across the State have put district administrations on alert.

The levels of the Krishna and the Bhima are rising fast in Gulbarga district owing to heavy inflow from the Alamatti reservoir and reservoirs in Maharashtra.

The water level in the Narayanpur dam across the Krishna is being maintained at 490 metres as against the full reservoir level of 492 metres. All the 26 crest gates of Alamatti reservoir were opened to release 1.85 lakh cusecs of water following heavy inflow. Fifteen gates of the Narayanpur dam were opened on Monday to let out 2.10 lakh cusecs of water. The release of such a huge volume of water at the beginning of the rainy season in the district has not occurred in recent years.

Meeting

The high-level Cabinet sub-committee on natural calamities met in Bangalore under the leadership of Minister for Home and Law and Parliamentary Affairs M.P. Prakash in the background of the floods in several districts of north Karnataka apart from the Old Mysore region. The other members of the sub-committee present were Revenue Minister Jagadish Shettar, Agriculture Ministers Bandeppa Kashampur, Public Works and Energy Minister H.D. Revanna and Agriculture Marketing Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur.

The State Government has decided to depute the Chief Secretary and the Revenue Secretary to attend a meeting called in Mumbai on July 10 and seek advance information from Maharashtra on the release of water from its reservoirs. Compared with 2004-05 when on occasions over five lakh cusecs of water was released into the Krishna, the release at present was about 2.5 lakh cusecs (recorded on Sunday). The villages along the Krishna and the Bhima in Karnataka were flooded largely due to the huge volume of releases from the Koyna and other dams in Maharashtra.

Delegation

Mr. Prakash said that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa would lead a high-level delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar seeking a special assistance in the light of the floods. The Deputy Commissioners in the districts have been directed to submit a report on the damages and the assistance required.

Mr. Revanna said the damage to electricity stations and roads was over Rs. 75 crore. The State was yet to receive the Central allocation of Rs. 124 crore under the Calamity Relief Fund and the Natural Calamities and Contingency Fund for the year.

People warned

The discharge of water from the Narayanapur dam has not caused floods in downstream villages. However, the authorities have warned people residing in the villages to move to safe places. The Bhima is also rising steadily following heavy rain.

In Shimoga district, the level of the Tunga has been rising steadily following the incessant rains in Sringeri and Tirthahalli.

People living in the low lying areas in Shimoga were advised to move to safe places. The people in the low lying areas such as Seegehatti and Kumbaragundi which are prone to the threat of flash floods were alerted and advised to move to the safe places.

The water level at Linganamakki Reservoir has reached the level that stood this day last year. Its level was recorded at 1,777.30 feet against the maximum level of 1,819 feet. The level of the Bhadra reservoir stood at 148.60 feet on Monday against the maximum level of 186 feet.

Mr. Shettar said standing crops on 5,588 hectares of land had been damaged on account of heavy downpour in Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Hassan, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts.

As many as 150 taluks received above normal rainfall so far and sowing operations were in full swing across the State, he said.

Farmer killed

Heavy rainfall claimed the life of a farmer at Handli village in Somwarpet taluk of Madikeri district on Monday. He died when a wall of his house collapsed. Rainfall in Kodagu district slackened but the Cauvery and its tributaries were flowing close to the danger mark.

Cauvery waters have submerged vast extent of paddy fields in and around Bhagamandala in Madikeri taluk and Begurkolli area in Virajpet taluk. Landslips occurred at Talacauvery, Bhagamandala, Karike and Chettimani areas. A girl was rescued by neighbours when she was trapped inside a house.

Minister’s visit

Minister for Horticulture Shashikant A. Naik visited the rain-affected areas in Belgaum on Monday and held a meeting with legislators on the situation.

There were reports that the catchment areas for Koyna dam and for the Vedganga, Doodhganga and the Krishna had been receiving good rain. About 2.15 lakh cusecs of water was being released from Rajapur dam in Maharashtra, near the Karnataka border. Another 63,000 cusecs of water was being released from Rajapur barrage across the Panchaganga.

With 2,200 cusecs water being released from the Koyna dam, the cumulative inflow into the Alamatti dam was 1,91,528 cusecs on Monday, while the outflow was 2,12,962 cusecs.

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