Belagavi
The government has decided to station its officials at Koyna dam in Maharashtra to oversee the water release to Karnataka via the Krishna River. In 2019, unanticipated releases from Koyna led to severe flooding in border districts like Belagavi, Vijayapura, and Bagalkot.
According to Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Roshan, starting Thursday, one official each from the revenue and water resources departments will be stationed at Koyna. They will monitor the dam’s water levels and the volume of water being discharged, providing regular updates.
Roshan mentioned that it takes approximately 30 hours for water from Koyna to reach Karnataka through the Rajapur Barrage. Timely information will enable authorities to take preventive actions, such as evacuating people to safer locations, he explained. Additionally, an officer will be stationed at the Jatrat Barrage in Nippani taluk, near the Pune-Bengaluru National Highway-4.
Currently, Maharashtra is releasing 1.35 lakh cusecs of water into the Krishna through the Rajapur Barrage. An additional 15,000 cusecs is coming from the Kallol Barrage, and 35,000 cusecs from the Ghataprabha River through the Lolasur Barrage, totaling 1.85 lakh cusecs flowing from Belagavi district to Hipparagi Dam and then Almatti.
To manage the water flow, the water resources department has begun releasing 2 lakh cusecs from Almatti since Wednesday morning. Presently, there is no flood threat in the district, though the administration remains vigilant due to forecasts of light rain over the next four days.
