Hubbali: One man was washed away in swirling waters of the river Krishna while taking a holy dip while at least ten barrages-cum-bridges built across the Krishna, Vedganga and Doodhganga rivers have gone under water in Belagavi, with eight rivers in spate in the district, and people living in basin areas of Krishna and the river Ghataprabha living in fear of a flood in Bagalkot and Belagavi districts.
Official sources said the inflow of water into Almatti reservoir has increased to 1.63 lakh cusecs with officials releasing equal amount of water from the dam on Wednesday. The water level has reached its brim in the reservoir at 519 metres. The Kudchi-Ugar bridge, which connects several parts of Maharashtra with north Karnataka, has been submerged near Raibag, resulting in a complete halt of vehicular traffic on the bridge, forcing vehicles to ply through alternative routes. The bridges submerged in Chikkodi taluk are Kallol-Yadur, Karadaga- Bhoj, Bhojwadi- Kunnur, Akkol-Sidnal, Bhivashi- Jatrat and Malikawad-Dattawad, Sadalgaon-Borgaon, Yaxamba-Danwad. Meanwhile, people living in Jamkhandi taluk are living in panic in view of heavy flow of water from Koyna dam in Maharashtra. The district administration has directed them to move to the safer places. The inflow and outflow of water in Hipparagi reservoir built across the river has also increased considerably. The standing sugarcane, maize, onion crops in Mirji,
Vantagodi, Chanal are submerged by flood waters. The district administration has directed all panchayat development officers to monitor and initiate relief measures in the event of floods.
Officers of Belagavi district have estimated the loss at Rs 31 crores owing to the monsoon and also geared up to carry out rehabilitation and rescue operations in the event of flood. Officials of agriculture department said they would carry out a survey to assess crop damage once the water levels decrease.
