Almatti reservoir sees surge in inflows after Maharashtra rains

Bengaluru: The rains receded in many parts of the state on Wednesday, but heavy showers in the last few days have infused life into the water bodies across the state. The inflow into Almatti reservoir in Bagalkot district has increased to 78,250 cusec on Wednesday, owing to relentless rain in the Krishna river basin in Maharashtra.

For the first time, this year, 70,000 cusec of water was released downstream by opening 19 crest gates. On Tuesday, the dam clocked an inflow of 20,000 cusec and by Wednesday evening it rose to 78,250 cusec.

With the Western Ghats of Maharashtra getting heavy downpour, huge amounts of water is flowing into the Krishna river in Karnataka.At Rajapur Barrage, the river has clocked an inflow of 60,458 cusec. The Doodhsagar and Ghataprabha rivers are also receiving copious inflows.

The reservoir, as on June 18, has 67.665 tmcft of water, which is 54% of its full capacity.

“With the discharge of 42,500 cusec, all six units of  hydroelectric power station at Almatti are up and running. At present, only 225 MW units of power is being produced,” KPCL officer Chandrashekar Dore told DH.

The villages on the banks of downstream Krishna, including Araladinni, Kashinakunti, Yelaguru, Masuti, are gripped by apprehensions of floods following the massive discharge of water, which is expected to go up in next few days.

However, Hungund Tahsildar A D Amarawadagi has allayed fear of villagers saying that only Hole Masuti village and fields on the banks will submerge if the outflow goes past 4 lakh-mark. Meanwhile, four bridge-cum-barrages of Belagavi district have gone under water upstream.

Meanwhile, the search for Sangeeta Manjrekar (41) who was washed away in the Krishna river near Manjari, Chikkodi taluk, on Tuesday, is still on. Sangeeta was swept away while offering Bagina to the river.