A flood alert has been issued in the Cauvery basin region, which lies downstream of the Kabini reservoir situated in HD Kote Taluk, Mysuru. This, as a result of heavy rainfall in Malnad region of central, coastal Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala, which is a major catchment area.
Officials have been asked to make enough flood cushion at Kabini dam, as four shutters of Banasura Sagar Dam were opened since Wednesday.
Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar told TNM, “Nanjangud Taluk is the most sensitive area. But for now, so far 70,000 cusecs of water has been released which is manageable. At this level, only buffer lands along the banks of the river will be inundated. These lands are not supposed to be cultivated or occupied, but people at other times of the year illegally use the land.”
“We have issued alerts and have warned people not to venture into the river due to strong currents, there is a possibility of being swept away,” he said.
NDRF personnel are currently stationed at Mysuru, and they will be dispatched if required.
He added, “For now, there is no inundation in the district, but we have been asked by the Kerala administration to be on standby to help out some villages in Wayanad that have been cut off due to the flooding. For this, we have given standing instructions at the local level to the fire department. As of now, we have not received any request.”
Revenue officials under the leadership of tehsildars will be coordinating evacuation exercises, if required.
Earlier in the day, Ramesh Babu, Assistant Executive Engineer of Kabini Reservoir, had requested people on the river bank and lowlands to take care of their property, livestock and to go to safe places.
An official of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre told TNM, “Updated information is being sent to the local-level authorities regularly. The alert will remain active for now. There is a lot of rain in the upstream areas. Already 50,000 cusecs of water has been released. The CWC (Central Water Commission) has recorded increasing level of water and they will release another 25,000 cusecs of water. From Krishna Raja Sagar Dam, another 40,000 cusecs of water will be discharged. So totally, there will be close to 115,000 cusecs of water added in the downstream,” the official added.
An advisory forecast to this effect by the Central Water Commission Bengaluru, has also been issued.
Advisory Forecast issued by CWC Bengaluru for all dams in Cauvery and Tungabhadra basins today 09.09.2018 pic.twitter.com/ql7yHOeqKm
— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@FFM_CWC) August 9, 2018