RAICHUR: The floods continue to ravage Raichur district with two major rivers -Krishna and Tungabhadra -in spate necessitating evacuation of a large number of people.
The flood threat has become serious in three taluks of Raichur and some parts of Yadgir following heavy discharge of water into the Krishna from Basavasagar reservoir and also into the Bhima from the Sonna barrage necessitating shifting of nearly 4,500 people of 26 villages. Rescue aircraft have been pressed into service to shift the affected people to safe places.
Meanwhile, flood water from the Tungabhadra has entered 13 villages in Sindhanur taluk besides inundating hundreds of acres of farm land following the release of nearly 3 lakh cusec of water from the reservoir at Hospete. According to Tungabhadra Dam Chief Engineer Manjappa, the water level at the dam has reached 129.7 ft due to the inflow of 2.18 lakh cusec of water and so the outflow was increased to 2.26 lakh cusecs on Sunday. “Today the water level has further increased due to increased inflow into the reservoir,” he said over phone.
Meanwhile Lingasugur CPI Yeshwanth Bisnalli, PSI Praksh Dambal, Taluk Panchayat EO Prakash, PWD AEE C S Patil, and JE Anand who were stranded in the Karakalagaddi island in the Krishna on Saturday, were rescued by NDRF personnel. These officers had gone to the island to persuade the residents there to shift to the mainland.
With heavy outflow from Maharashtra continuing, the authorities have increased the outflow from Basavasagara dam to 6.30 lakh cusec. Around 2.85 lakh cusec of water has entered the Krishna from the Bhima river and with the discharge nearing 9.5 lakh cusecs, the flood water has destroyed standing crops in thousands of acres. The situation reminds people of the 2009 floods when rains washed away the railway bridge at Mantrayalaya. The Krishna has touched the danger mark at Shaktinagar. However, the water does not pose a threat to the RTPS there as a huge bund has been built on the side of the river.
