Flood threat continues in Gulbarga

Bangalore, Aug 19 (UNI) The flood situation in Gulbarga district is still grim as Maharashtra has increased discharge of water from its Ujjini and Veerbhatkal reservoirs into river Bhima, while river Krishna continued to be in spate due to incessant rainfall in its catchment areas.

According to official sources, Maharashtra had released excess water into river Bhima, affecting many villages in Afzalpur taluk in Gulbarga district. The officials have appealed to people, who have been provided shelter at relief camps, to stay back as the water level in river Bhima was expected to rise eventhough it was receding for the last two days.

A Belgaum report said the flood situation eased due to decrease in discharge of water from Maharashtra into river Krishna and its tributaries. The Public Works Department officials maintained the water level in Alamatti reservoir at 518 m as against the maximum level of 519 m, with an inflow of 3.30 lakh cusecs and discharge of 3.46 lakh cusecs.

Over one lakh people who were displaced by the flood waters remained in relief camps in Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga and Raichur districts, while standing crops in over 93,000 hectares of land were damaged. The State Government had released Rs 26 crore for taking up relief works in the six flood-ravaged districts of North Karnataka, while the central team was expected to arrive on August 21 to assess the flood damage. The State Government had submitted a memorandum to the Centre, appealing for financial aid of about Rs 1,600 crore to take up relief works in the flood-hit areas.

The Cauvery basin reservoirs received good inflows following widespread rain in its catchment areas. The Krishna Raja Sagar dam near Mysore recorded an inflow of 48,704 cusecs and discharge of 44,789 cusecs. With an inflow of 26,492 cusecs and outflow of 25,345 cusecs, the Kabini reservoir maintained a water level of 2,283.38 ft as against its full capacity of 2,284 ft. The Harangi reservoir in Kodagu district recorded inflow and outflow of 7,559 cusecs and 5,275 cusecs respectively, while the water level stood at 2,858.77 ft compared to the maximum level of 2,859 ft.

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