North Karnataka at risk of floods due to last week’s rainfall in Maharashtra

Major parts of north Karnataka are under the threat of floods emanating from the Ghataprabha river, a tributary of river Krishna.

Several districts in north Karnataka, including Bagalkot, have not faced rains in the current monsoon season. However, now, major parts of north Karnataka are under the threat of floods. Taluks like Mudhol, Banahatti are on the brink of experiencing floods emanating from the Ghataprabha river, which is a right bank tributary of the Krishna river, and whose basin stretches across Karnataka and Maharashtra.

A scene in Mumbai during last week's rains (HT Photo)

Last week’s large-scale rainfall in Maharashtra is what has led to this threat. According to Kannada daily Udayavani, due to the rains, the Hiranyakeshi river, which is a tributary of Ghataprabha, is dumping an average of 20,000 cusecs of water in its parent river at the Dakal reservoir. On Thursday, the reservoir received 17,114 cusecs of water from Hiranyakeshi while the corresponding figures for Tuesday and Wednesday were 23,000 and 21,000 cusecs respectively.

The threat of floods has led to the Karnataka water resources department closely monitoring the situation at Dhoopadala and Dakal reservoirs, which are built across Hiranyakeshi and Ghataprabha respectively. In order to prevent possible flooding in low-lying areas, 1200 cusecs of water is being released into the Ghataprabha left bank canal (GLBC).

Raitha Sangha (farmers’ association) has already started cultivating Kharif cultivation on both the banks of Ghataprabha. “Are hope is that the reservoirs will hold water till December,” Udayavani quoted Bharamappa Bilaga association secretary at Mudhol as saying.

However, the district authorities have also sent the first warning to the villages on the southern bank of Ghataprabha. “We are intently observing the rains in Maharashtra, as well as those in Belagavi district in Karnataka. If the situation worsens, we will ask the villagers to vacate,” Sanjay Ingle, the Tahsildar of the Banahatti sub-division said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in central Maharashtra in the next 72 hours. The alignment of the drainage system in central Maharashtra towards Hiranyakeshi, Ghataprabha and their tributaries is extremely worrisome for north Karnataka.