Record water discharge from Almatti dam

A total of 90,000 cusecs of water was released from the Almatti reservoir on Thursday, a first for this year.

Fifteen out of the total 26 gates were opened to let the water out to River Krishna. Of the total amount of water discharged, 45,000 cusecs flowed out through the hydel power station of the dam, generating 290 MW. The Almatti dam has reached the maximum level of 519.6 metres with 123 tmc ft of storage.

The inflow has been high due to heavy discharge from dams in Maharashtra and good showers in the Krishna basin of the state.

A total of 18,764 cusecs has been released from Koyna dam in Maharashtra. The inflow to the river through Rajapur barrage is 79,470 cusecs. Release of more water depends on the amount of inflow as rain has receded in Maharashtra, reservoir sources said.

Six low-lying bridges in Chikkodi taluk, Belagavi district, have been submerged. The Shinglapur bridge on the outskirts of Gokak town was also submerged due to the increase in inflow to River Ghataprabha, due to heavy rain in the Western Ghats.

Gokak tahsildar G S Malagi has cautioned the residents from both the sides of the river to use alternative roads.

The bridge at Sheelahalli across River Krishna has gone under water due to sudden release of water from the Basavasagar dam in Narayanpur, Lingsugur taluk, Raichur district. A total of 2.4 lakh cusecs was released from the reservoir on Thursday.

The flood-like situation has thrown life out of gear in the islets of River Krishna in the taluk. The islets have been cut off from the mainland, without enough stocks of provisions in the fair price shops. Large-scale crop damage has been reported in the villages.