Flood situation in Cauvery basin continues to be grim

Mysuru: Flood situation continued to be grim in Cauvery region for the third day with no respite in South West Monsoon rain in the catchment areas on Saturday.As heavy rain continued to lash in Waynad district of Kerala the inflow into Reservoirs built across river Cauvery has been increasing so as the outflow also as the water levels have crossed full capacities.

From Kabini 80,000 cusecs of water was released and the outflow is expected to be increased to one lakh cusecs later in the day as inflow is continued to be high. This has led to blocking the Mysuru-Nanjangud National Highway (NH) 212 (now NH 766) this morning.

Vehicles moving from Mysuru to Nanjangud and from Gundlupet to Mysuru were diverted. This is for the second time such a huge quantity of water was released from the Kabini reservoir.  In 1992, when 76,000 cusecs of water was released from the Kabini reservoir.

Kabini reservoir  level maintained at 2281.41 feet against maximum level of 2284 feet with inflow of 75,380 Cusecs Likewise, the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam is receiving good inflow from its catchment area in Kodagu and over 60,000 cusecs of water is being released on Saturday with level reading 124.41 feet against full level of 124.80 feet. The inflow was at 47,709 cusecs.

The combined discharge from the both Kabini and KRS is about 1.39 lakh cusecs .For the second time in the current monsoon season, entry of visitors to KRS Reservoir and Brindavan Gardens has been banned and boating at the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary has been suspended as a precautionary measure.

While there is a complete ban on tourist entry into Brindavan Gardens, visitors are barred from entering via the North Gate of the KRS (from the old entrance to Brindavan Gardens). Visitors are only allowed to view the water discharge by standing along the railings near the water department office near the South Gate. Entry will be banned till the outflow touches 60,000 rpt 60,000 Cusecs, official sources said.

As the NH 766 connects to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the travelers have been inconvenienced with the traffic being diverted. The road between Mallanamoole Mutt and the South India Paper Mill has been blocked and there is over three to four feet of water flowing on the road. The bridge across Kapila near Suttur village too is submerged cutting off the link between Mysuru-Hosakote and Suttur.

As the road is critical for the vehicles to reach Kerala and Tamil Nadu, huge traffic jams were witnessed at several places.following the block in the National Highway, Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G. Sankar, Superintendent of Police Amit Singh, Tahsildar Dayananda and other officials rushed to spot after water level breached. Officials said  that the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has been informed about the impending disaster. The NDRF is likely to send a team as more water will be released from Kabini as rainfall is continuing unabated in Kerala.

Two low-lying localities in Nanjangud have been partially submerged and efforts are on to relocate four families from there. A 'Ganji Kendra' (relief centre) has been opened at the Dasoha Bhavan at Srikanteshwara Swamy Temple in Nanjangud and over seven to eight families have been given temporary shelters.

Hundreds of acres of paddy have been destroyed. After the water release from Kabini last month, farmers had tilled their lands and had sowed paddy and even transplanted them into fields. They were hoping for a good crop as their fields had enough water. But all their hopes are dashed now as water has submerged their paddy crop. If the water level stays for a 24-hour period, the paddy crop will turn black, leaving it useless.

The normal life was affected  in Kodagu district with rain lashing out continued and schools and colleges declared  holiday by the authorities. Officials claimed that the  rain of this year was highest since last  30 years .

Several roads were submerged with rain waters and  district officials were  tough time to handle the situation since the rain  has been continued since June month this year and unable to take repair works.  Even though Chief Minister H D Kumnraswamy who announced Rs 100 crore for the relief works , but the funds not yet released, the officials claimed.    

There is no respite in rain in Malnad Region of Karnataka as heavy rain reported in Chikkamangaluru and Hassan districts for the third day. In Dakshina Kannada district and Mangaluru also heavy rain lashing and Schools and colleges were declared holiday for the third day. (UNI)