Level of Bhima increases; Krishna eases further

Bangalore, Aug 20 (UNI) The flood situation in North Karnataka continues to be a cause for concern as water level in river Bhima rose following rain-hit Maharashtra discharging excess water from its dams, while the flood waters further receded in river Krishna, giving some respite to the affected people.

Officials said though water level in river Bhima increased in Bijapur district, the situation was not alarming. It was flowing at 10.5 m at Dulikhed the entry point of the river in Bijapur district, inundating Dulkhed-Chanegaon road. However, there was no immediate threat of inundation of villages once again, they added.

The level in Alamatti dam, built across river Krishna was maintained at 518.24 m as against the full level of 519.6 m. The inflow 2.8 lakh cusecs and the outflow 2.7 lakh cusecs.

In upstream Belgaum district, water level in river Krishna receded further with the inflow from Maharashtra dropping to 1.34 lakh cusecs. Most roads that had submerged in the worst affected Athani and Chikkodi taluks had been cleared for traffic.

In Gulbarga district, though water level in river Bhima rose slightly, people, who had been evacuated from marooned villages over the last one month, started returning to their homes from relief centres.

Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Kumar told UNI that the district administration had distributed 20 kg of rice, three kg of tur dal, ten litres of kerosene and Rs 1000 to each of the affected families.

Voluntary organisations had also come forward to supply household articles to people in flood-hit Surpur, Jewargi, Chitapur and Afzalpur taluks.

The inflow into river Bhima at Devangaon Bridge gauging point read 1.55 lakh cusecs and the level stood at 403.35 m.

The level in Narayanpur dam, built across river Krishna, stood at 490.30 ft. The inflow was 2.50 lakh cusecs and the same amount of water was being let out, officials said.

Over one lakh people had been displaced by the flood waters and provided shelter in relief camps in Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga and Raichur districts, while standing crops in over 93,000 hectares of land destroyed. The State Government had released Rs 26 crore for taking up relief works in the six flood-ravaged districts of North Karnataka and sought a financial assistance of over Rs 1,600 crore from the Centre for taking up relief works.

A Central team was expected to arrive tomorrow to assess the situation.

Meanwhile, the Cauvery basin reservoirs--Krishna Raja Sagar, Kabini and Harangi received good inflows following widespread rain in its catchment areas.

UNI TEAM-RS RG GM1917