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Officials asked to release water from Almatti dam
Maharashtra water resources department has requested the superintending engineer of the Almatti reservoir to increase water discharge up to 100,000 cusecs to avoid a flood-like situation in the southern parts of the state
PUNE: Considering the heavy downpour in the catchment area of the Koyana and Krishna rivers, the Maharashtra water resources department has requested the superintending engineer of the Almatti reservoir to increase water discharge up to 100,000 cusecs to avoid a flood-like situation in the southern parts of the state.
A letter dated July 11, 2022, written by the executive engineer of the Sangli irrigation division, reads, “Considering the changing rainfall pattern, as a precautionary measure and as discussed in the interstate coordination meeting, it was requested to maintain sufficient level and regulate discharge from the dam for smooth monitoring in the sub-basin.’’
“The Almatti dam reservoir level on July 11, 2022, was 516.95 M and gross storage was 83.85 TMC. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a warning regarding heavy rainfall in the Satara and Kolhapur districts in the next few days. Considering future heavy rainfall in the Krishna river basin of Maharashtra, to accommodate future upstream discharge, it is requested to create a sufficient cushion in the Almatti dam. So it is requested to increase discharge from the Almatti dam up to 100,000 cusecs for smooth flood monitoring in the sub-basin,” the letter further reads.
Milind Naik, superintending engineer, Sangli irrigation circle, said that there is daily coordination between them considering the rainfall situation in the river catchment area. “Considering the heavy downpour in the Satara and Sangli districts, we have requested them to increase discharge from the Almatti dam up to 100,000 cusecs for smooth flood monitoring in the southern parts of Maharashtra.’’ Earlier on July 9, members of the Krishna Mahapur Niyantran Nagari Kruti Samiti, Sangli, had written a letter to chief minister Eknath Shinde asking him to request the chief minister of Karnataka to release water from the Almatti dam so that there is no backlash.
Activists claim that the Karnataka irrigation department is violating the Central Water Commission’s guidelines regarding water supply in dams. According to the commission, the stock of the Almatti dam must be less than 512 metre by August 15. However, the Karnataka irrigation department has vowed to fill the dam to its maximum capacity for fear of inadequate rainfall in August. Convener of the activists’ forum, Vijaykumar Diwan, said, “We want the chief minister of Maharashtra to pay attention to this issue. In our frequent meetings with officials, Karnataka promised to abide by the CWC guidelines. However, the promise has not been kept. The water level on Sunday was 516 metre. The water level is rising rapidly. If this situation continues, Sangli and Shirol will be flooded.”
Meanwhile, officials from the irrigation department said that the Krishna valley has received more than average rainfall in a short period which has caused a flood-like situation. Another official from the irrigation department said that discharge from the Almatti dam of Vijapur district in Karnataka is very crucial as its backwater spreads into the Sangli district and the Krishna river catchment area is receiving heavy downpour. They said that the situation becomes critical as the Almatti backwater flows back into the Krishna river while water continues to be discharged from the dams in the Krishna valley. Sources from the irrigation department confirmed that the situation is expected to become worse as the IMD has forecasted very heavy to heavy rainfall over the next few days and all the dams in the valley will get heavy water inflow.
As a precautionary measure, the government has deployed a total of three NDRF teams in this area to monitor the flood situation. “As of now, we have deployed two teams in Shirol and Kolhapur, and one team in Karad of Satara district. A total of 17 teams have been deployed at various locations across Maharashtra to monitor the situation,” said Anupam Shrivastava, commandant of the 5th battalion of the NDRF. The state government has reportedly moved nearly 4,916 people to safer places as a precautionary measure and 220 villages have been affected so far.
