Incessant rain in the catchment area in Maharashtra and the resultant increase in the inflow of water at Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs, from where a huge quantity of water was released into the Krishna river on Thursday evening, have created a flood-like situation in Raichur district.
Huvinahedagi Bridge in Deodurg taluk in Raichur district was submerged on Friday after 2.60 lakh cusecs water was released from Narayanpur reservoir built across the Krishna on the Raichur-Yadgir district border on Thursday evening.
As a result, Deodurg-Kalaburagi Road has been closed forcing vehicles bound for Raichur from Shahapur, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and other places to run via Thinthini Bridge built over the Krishna on the Raichur-Yadgir district border. As a precautionary measure, the administration closed the bridge for traffic on Thursday evening itself. The taluk administration has posted police and revenue personnel on either end of the bridge to ensure safety of people.
Several villages, particularly those in smaller islands created by the Krishna, including Kadadaragaddi, Hanchinala, Madaragaddi, Karakalagaddi and Hukammagaddi, have lost road connectivity with the mainland. As the flow of water in the river increased, Basaveshwara and Anelingeswara temples in Huvinahedagi, Narasimhaswamy temple at Koppar and Allamaprabhu temple at Gugal were partially submerged.
As per sources in the Department of Water Resources, water release from the Narayanpur reservoir was reduced to 2.08 lakh cusecs by Friday evening. However, the district administration has made all preparations to handle a possible flood situation.
“We have been working on it for the last one month. A nodal officer is designated for each village along the river bank that faces the threat of floods. Our rescue teams are ready. We have stocked food and other material also. As of now, there is no flood situation since the water release from reservoir is reduced,” S. Sasikanth Senthil, Deputy Commissioner, told The Hindu .
