Several rivers are in spate following heavy rains in many parts of Karnataka, especially villages located near Tunga and Tungabhadra rivers, officials said. At least 1 lakh cusecs of water was released from Tungabhadra dam into the Tungabhadra river following heavy downpour in the catchment region and heavy inflow of water in Vijayanagara district.
The Tungabhadra dam, with a storage capacity of 1,633 feet, already has water level reaching 1,631 feet. To maintain the balance, 1 lakh cusecs of water was released, which has created a flood scare among the people living in the lower riparian of Tungabhadra dam. Officials have sounded an alert for the locals in the areas located near the course of the river. Of the 33 floodgates, 30 were opened on Sunday, August 7, following which many heritage sites of the Vijayanagara dynasty in Hampi were submerged.
Sources in the Water Resources department said Bhadravati, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Krishna, Cauvery, Kabini, Hemavathi, Supa and Varahi, and their subsidiary rivers are in spate. The rivers in coastal Karnataka too are swollen and a majority of the dams built on these rivers are to the brim. Heavy rains have lashed parts of the state in the last week, and according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cause for this is a low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts, resulting in a depression. Heavy rainfall was reported in Castle Rock, Siddapur, Udupi, Murnadu in Kodagu; Nilkund ARG in Uttara Kannada district; Kota in Udupi district, Mangaluru Airport, Somwarpet in Kodagu district; Panambur, Dharmasthala and Belthangadi in Dakshina Kannada; Honavar in Uttara Kannada; Puttur and Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada; Kalasa, Sringeri, Chikkamagaluru and Koppa in Chikkamagaluru and Hunchadakatte in Shivamogga.
"Heavy rain likely to occur at a few places with isolated very heavy falls over all the districts of coastal Karnataka and heavy to very heavy rain likely to occur at isolated places over Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts of south interior Karnataka," the department said in its forecast.
Between July 28 and May 3, Bagalkote, Gadag, Haveri, Kalaburgi, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Ballari, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chamarajanagar, Chikkabalapura, Chitradurga, Davengere, Hassan, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara and Tumakuru districts received large excess rainfall, the IMD said in its weekly bulletin.