BELAGAVI, KALABURAGI, VIJAYAPURA: Incessant rainfall across the Western Ghats, surrounding Karnataka-Maharashtra and Goa borders, and the overflowing Krishna and its tributaries have wreaked havoc throughout the Mumbai-Karnataka region of the Krishna basin.
The swelling Malaprabha, Ghataprabha, Markendeya and other smaller rivers along the Karnataka and Maharashtra border led to the flooding of villages, bridges, roads and farmlands on Sunday night.
Flood-prone villages in Saudatti taluk, including Munvalli and Sunnal, were flooded, while Kudchi and Munvalli bridges were completely under water. A landslide at Shivthan railway station, Khanapur, affected the movement of trains on the Hubballi-Londa route.
A state highway connecting Belagavi and Bagalkot caved in near Belagavi, cutting off the bus route towards Vijayapura. Senior Water Resources Department officials from Karnataka and Maharashtra held a virtual meeting on Sunday evening to discuss keeping water levels in Almatti, Koyna and Hidkal dam, and other major reservoirs in check. Deputy Commissioner M G Hiremath visited several flood-hit areas at Ramdurg on Monday to take stock of the situation.Water Resources Ramesh Jarkiholi appealed to people living on the banks of the Krishna, Malaprabha, Markendeya and Ghataprabha rivers to move to safer areas as outflow from dams is expected to increase due to rain.
Krishna overflows
With heavy showers continuing to lash the Western Ghats and basin of the Krishna river, the threat of flood loomed large in parts of Bagalkot, Vijayapura, Raichur and Yadgir districts. After water level in the Malaprabha and Ghataprabha rivers rose, the district administration issued flood warnings in at least 30 villages in Bagalkot and asked people living along the two rivers to move to safer places.
The overflowing Malaprabha submerged a couple of bridge-cum-barrages in Badami taluk. However, the villagers are using other paths for commuting. According to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Committee, Naviluteertha dam is receiving an inflow of 25,000 cusecs and Hidkal dam is recording an inflow of 40,000 cusecs, and the same quantum of water is being released.
Bridges submerged
Road connectivity has been hampered due to overflowing waters of the Krishna over many bridges in Raichur and Yadgir districts on Monday.