Outflow from Malaprabha dam increases, though rain subsides slightly in Belagavi

Heavy rainfall impacts Belagavi and Bagalkot districts, causing flooding, evacuations, and infrastructure damage, with rising water levels in rivers.

Rainfall subsided slightly in parts of Belagavi, though heavy rainfall continued to lash south-western Maharashtra on Thursday.

Increased inflow into the Renuka Sagar Dam on the Malaprabha in Saundatti of Belagavi district forced officers to increase outflow from the dam to 15,000 cusecs on Thursday, from 10,000 cusecs on Wednesday.

Officials maintained the outflow from the Lal Bahadur Shastri Reservoir on the Krishna in Almatti of Bagalkot district at around 3.52 lakh cusecs or around 30 tmcft.

The Raja Lakhamagouda Reservoir over the Ghataprabha in Hidkal of Belagavi district has 47 tmcft of water against the total storage capacity of 51 tmcft. The inflow was stable at around 33,515 cusecs, while outflow was 38,644 cusecs.

The Malaprabha dam has around 32 tmcft against a total storage capacity of 37 tmcft of water. Inflow increased to 14,968 cusecs and outflow was around 13,394 cusecs.

However, continuous rainfall from late June has led to significant damage in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts. Water levels in most of the rivers in the Krishna basin have increased due to rain run-off and water released from Maharashtra.

At least 40 bridges and barrages on the Krishna, the Ghataprabha, the Malaprabha, the Dudhganga, the Vedganga, the Markandeya and the Hiranyakeshi rivers and the Ballari Nala, the Kalasa, the Banduri and the Halatri Halla rivulets have been submerged.