CWC flood advisory for several states; cloudburst, flashfloods likely in hilly districts in north

“There is likelihood of flashfloods in some of the hill districts in these states in association with cloudburst,” the Central Water Commission has said.

The Central Water Commission Monday issued a flood advisory for several states, warning some hill districts in the north of likely flashfloods and landslides, as heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in parts of the country and water level in rivers rises.

People residing near the bank of Kirshna rivers , vacating the area and going to safer place due to flood situation of river Krishna during heavy rain in catchment area of Koyana dam in Sangli on Monday.(Uday Deolekar/HT Photo)

The advisory for Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh said there is likelihood of rise in water levels in rivers such as the Ganga, Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Ghaggar, Yamuna, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Ramganga, Sarda, Sarju and Ghaghra due to a forecast of heavy to very rains there. “There is likelihood of flashfloods in some of the hill districts in these states in association with cloudburst. Necessary precautions have to be taken for possible landslides and blockages of river flows due to landslides in high ranges of these states,” it said.

The advisory for Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh said heavy to very heavy with isolated extremely heavy falls are likely over Telangana, Vidarbha (Maharashtra) and Chhattisgarh during next 24 hours. Due to the ongoing extremely heavy rainfall, the Godavari River is also getting good flows due to rain in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana, the advisory said. The Polavaram project on Godavari in Andhra Pradesh is likely to get around 40,000 cumec (cubic metre per second) and Laxmi Barrage around 20,000 cumec till Monday night and is expected to rise in view of the rainfall forecast, it said.

The Indravati River is likely to rise in Dantewada, Narayanpur and Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh. while river Sabari is likely to rise rapidly in Koraput, Malkangiri districts of Odisha and in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh and east Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, it said.

The advisory for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa said there is likelihood of rise in water levels in the basins of lower Mahi, lower Narmada, lower Tapi and Damanganga. Water level for Narmada, Tapi, Damanganga rivers are likely to rise rapidly due to rains which are predicted over next 4-5 days, it said.

Madhuban dam in Valsad District is likely to get heavy inflows. At present, the dam has storage of 67.09 per cent. A close watch is to be maintained and release of water, if any has to be done, it should be with due care and after informing all downstream districts including Union Territory of Daman, the CWC said.

Other dams in this region such as Kadana Dam on river Mahi, Panam Dam on river Panam, Sardar Sarovar Dam on river Narmada, Ukai Dam on river Tapi are also expected to get increased inflows. The Hatnur Dam in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra is likely to get an inflow of around 1,505 cumec till Monday night and Ukai Dam is also expected to receive around 3,703 cumec till Tuesday morning. “Due to the forecast of extremely heavy rain in their catchment, there is likelihood of sudden rise in inflows which may have to be regulated properly following the rule curves and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) after informing all downstream districts well in advance,” it said.

As the rainfall of higher intensity is likely to continue for at least 1-2 days, there is likelihood of rise in levels of rivers along the west coast in Maharashtra and Goa in the west flowing rivers between Tapi and Tadri. “Necessary precautions have to be taken on road and rail bridges which pass through these areas as they are prone to submergence. Care should be taken to regulate road and rail traffic to avoid any incidents,” the advisory said.

East Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh are likely to get heavy to very rains for next 3-4 days and there is a likelihood of rise in water levels in rivers such as Chambal, Mahi, Sabarmati, Kalisindh, Banas. Most of the dams in these rivers are having storage between 35 to 70 percent, care should be exercised to monitor the situation very closely, the advisory said.

The advisory for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh said inflows have started increasing in Panchana dam, and Parwan Pickup Weir and have crossed the threshold limit. The advisory for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka said due to continuous inflows from the previous spell of rainfall in the southern states, most of the dams in Cauvery Basin have reached very close to 90-97 per cent storage. A round the clock watch has to be maintained for proper reservoir operation and information to all downstream districts as well as to lower riparian states has to be provided well in advance, it said. Most of the dams in Krishna Basin are also having storage between 86 to 97 per cent. Hidkal Dam on Ghataprabha River is filled to 97 per cent of its full capacity and hence a close watch has to be maintained for any increased inflows likely due to the very heavy rainfall forecast for central Maharashtra during the next 2-3 days, the advisory said.

Due to water flows from upstream areas of Krishna River, the Almatti and Narayanpur dams are getting heavy inflows and since these dams are filled around 90 to 92 per cent of the capacity, both the dams are releasing the excess flow. The advisory for Bihar said many rivers the state continue to flow in severe to above normal flood situation with falling trend. The situation will continue for another three-four days, it said.