Vijayanagara
The water level rising in several dams because of heavy rain in North Karnataka and Maharashtra has forced dam authorities to release water downstream which has caused a flood-like situation in many villages and submerged structures in the world heritage site of Hampi. The main rivers in the region are the Krishna and the Tungabhadra. The water level is increasing every day in the Tungabhadra dam, as well as those in Almatti and Narayanpur in North Karnataka. The Tungabhadra dam in Hospet is filled to capacity following heavy rain in the catchment area.
The increasing water level forced the dam authorities to release 1,03,174 cusecs through all 30 crest gates, causing inundation in Hampi and other villages. Some monuments in world heritage site are submerged. The old Vijayanagar bridge, the Purandar mantap, Ram-Lakshman temple, Chakratirtha and other monuments are under the water. We have now restricted tourists from visiting the river bank and travelling by boat from Gangavathi to Hampi, K Kariyappa, the Police Sub-Inspector of Hampi, said.
He said the police are camping in Hampi to create awareness on the flood situation and have made arrangements to rescue people. More water will be released from the dam in the next couple of days. Hence, we are ready to shift people to safer places, he said.
CB Vedamurthy, the Yadgir Superintendent of Police, said the water level has increased in the Narayanpur dam and around 1 lakh cusecs of water was released. We have identified 52 flood-prone villages and made arrangements to shift residents to safer places like wedding halls, schools and colleges. If there is a release of 2-2.5 lakh cusecs, the Kollur dam connecting Shahapur and Devadurg will be submerged. If 4-5 lakh cusecs of water is released, there will be widespread flooding in Shahapur, Shorapur and Vadager taluks in Yadgir and Devadurga and Raichur taluks, he said.
The water level is also increasing in the Almatti dam. It has reached 29.06 TMC against the 33.31 TMC capacity. Following the rise in the water level, 97,858 cusecs was released from the dam and it may increase gradually. Now, most of the villages in Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Yadgir, Vijayanagar, Raichur, Bagalkot and other districts on the bank of the Krishna, Malaprabha and Tungabhadra rivers face the spectre of flooding in the next one or two days if more water is released from these dams, sources said.
