BELAGAVI
Commuters between Belagavi and Goa have had a tough time travelling due to the poor visibility and foggy ghats.
Along with the other rivers, River Malaprabha is in spate due to which low-lying bridges in Khanapur taluka and the Hemadaga road to Goa are likely to get over flooded on Monday night.
The district administration has raised an alarm to villagers from low lying areas to move to safer places. All educational institutions in Belagavi, Khanapur and neighbouring talukas have been closed on Monday and Tuesday, authorities informed.
Authorities have appealed to residents living along the banks of the Krishna, Ghataprabha Malaprabha and Hiranyakeshi rivers to stay alert and move to safer places. People have also been strictly advised to avoid venturing near water storage areas.
To regulate water levels, the Irrigation Department released 6,000 cusecs of water on Monday in River Ghataprabha, warning that the outflow may increase up to 20,000 cusecs in the coming days.
In anticipation of possible flooding, the district administration has set up temporary rehabilitation centres equipped with food, medicines, and medical staff.
The Hidkal reservoir in Hukkeri taluk has reached near-full capacity, prompting the district administration to clamp a high flood alert in Hukkeri and Gokak taluks.
At 5 pm on Sunday, the water level in the reservoir stood at 2174.667 ft, just short of its full capacity of 2175 ft — 99.98% filled. The dam, with a storage capacity of 55 TMCFT, has been receiving heavy inflows due to consistent rainfall across its catchment areas in the past two weeks.
The Renuka sagar water reservoir on River Malaprabha is also reaching its 100 percent capacity with 2077.50 ft.
Meanwhile, the Gokak Falls is expected to swell further as more water is released into the Ghataprabha river, likely drawing additional tourists from Goa and other places.
