Krishna, tributaries pose flood threat in Bagalkot dist

River Krishna and its tributaries, including Ghataprabha and Hiranyakeshi, are in spate, posing a flood threat to several places in Bagalkot and Belagavi districts.

The rivers are getting heavy inflows owing to incessant rain in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra.

Hipparagi reservoir near Jamkhandi on Saturday witnessed an inflow of 88,100. The barrage, with a maximum storage capacity of 2.67 tmcft, has at present 1.87 tmcft.

During summer, the taluk was reeling under acute shortage of drinking water. The authorities had drawn Almatti backwaters to Chikkapadasalgi barrage to ease water
woes.

Now, Hipparagi reservoir getting good inflow has come as a big relief for villages in Jamkhandi taluk.

Chikkapadasalgi Shramabindu Sagar is full to the brim.

The taluk administration has issued flood warning to the villages on the banks of the overflowing Krishna river.

Assistant Commissioner Ikram Sharief told DH, “The taluk administration is ready to tackle the floods. A nodal officer has been appointed at each village facing the flood threat. The villagers have been alerted about the flood and the precautions to be taken in the event of flooding.”

Ghataprabha in spate

Hiranyakeshi, which is flowing in full steam, is pumping a huge volume of water into Ghataprabha as flood threat looms large over the villages on the banks near Mahalingpur in Bagalkot district.

The overflowing Ghataprabha has submerged Nandgaon-Avaraadi and Akkimaradi-Mirji bridges, cutting off several villages including Avaradi, Yeragudri, Thimmapur, Aralimatti and Venkatapur among others with Gokak and nearby towns.

Students, daily wagers and employees of the affected villages are forced to take a detour of 20 km (via Davaleshwar) to reach their villages.

Ghataprabha river is flowing above danger level near Davaleshwar. If there is no let-up in Maharashtra rain, the Davaleshwar bridge will go under Ghataprabha in a couple of days.

With showers receding in its catchment, the inflow into Malaprabha has come down on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the rain has subsided in Malnad and coastal district on Saturday.