Bhopal's Upper Lake nears full capacity due to heavy rains

Following heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours, sluice gates of Bhopal's Upper Lake were opened on Saturday morning after the water body neared its full capacity, an official said.

Several low-lying areas of the Madhya Pradesh capital were inundated, as showers have continued to lash the city for the last two days.

Sluice gates of Bhadbhada Dam of Upper Lake were opened following a rise in water levels, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner K V S Choudary said.

Inflow from streams in the catchment areas is causing the water level to rise in Upper Lake, he said, adding that an alert has been sounded in the downstream of Bhadbhada Dam.

Bhopal city has received about 174 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours, Choudhary said.

There have been complaints of inundation, with water entering houses in some parts of the city, he said.

"Our teams have been working constantly to pump out water and the civic body is in touch with the disaster response forces," he said.

At least four gates of Bhadbhada Dam were opened till 11 am, a public relations officer of the civic body said.

"According to the proposed Bhopal Master Plan 2031, the Upper Lake area at full tank level is 34 sq km. This is the biggest wetland site of central India," said Kamal Rathi, an environmentalist working for the lake's conservation.

The full-tank capacity of Upper Lake is 1666.80 feet.

Meanwhile, as many as 100 complaints of waterlogging were received from different parts of the city, assistant fire officer Sajid Khan said.

"Most of the complaints are from low-lying areas. We also rescued a couple of people trapped in a car. Citizens have also been shifted to safer places from water-logged localities," he said.

An underbridge in Habibganj area, was completely inundated due to heavy rains, it was stated.