Reservoirs full, rivers in spate as region receives good rainfall
| Date :30-Aug-2020 |
In full flow: Many rivers, including Kanhan river, are in spate after good rainfall in the division in past couple of days.
The Hitavada Team
2,907 families in 25 villages of Nagpur district affected due to floods
The well-marked low pressure area lying over central parts of north Madhya Pradesh and adjoining south Uttar Pradesh and activeness of a monsoon trough at mean sea level caused heavy to very heavy rainfall in Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh in last couple of days. Continuous rains have caused flooding in many parts of Vidarbha in last 24 hours. With gates of all major reservoirs opened to maintain their respective water levels, the situation is becoming critical.
Continuous heavy rains in Chhindwara district of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh have raised concern for Maharashtra Irrigation Department. All gates of Machagora Dam (Chaurai) in Madhya Pradesh were opened as water touched critical level mark. In a cascading effect, water level in Totladoh dam also increased. To avoid overflowing of the reservoir, all gates of the dam were opened. Release of water from Totladoh dam flooded many villages in Gondia and Bhandara districts in last 24 hours. Flooding also affected road connectivity of Nagpur-Chhindrawara. Nullas and canals are overflowing affecting traffic movement on national highways.
Pench, Kanhan and Kolar rivers in Nagpur district are flowing above danger levels. District administration, along with NDRF, is ready to handle the situation in the district. To ensure maintain maximum water-level, district administration has opened all gates of Totladoh and Kamptee Khairy dams. This has resulted in increase in water levels in most of the rivers including Kanhan river on Saturday. In last 24 hours, Nagpur district received 81.43 mm rainfall. On Saturday, 6,839 Cumec water was released from Navegaon Khairy while 6,693 Cumec water was released from Totladoh dam. Raging Kanhan river wreaked havoc on Saturday as increased water level caused flooding of its stretch, especially the low-lying areas. The river was in spate after many years.
Panic griped residents of Kamptee and Kanhan as water gushed in many areas of both the towns since Saturday morning. The iron bridge connecting both the towns was thronged by citizens with many capturing the raging river in their cellphone cameras. While villagers residing on the banks of the river were busy shifting households to safer places. Following heavy rains and release of excess water from Madhya Pradesh’s Chaurai dam, Totladoh dam was full to its brim. To maintain water level, all 14 gates were opened early on Saturday. It was the first time after 1994, all gates of the dam were lifted by 6 metre.
“The gates were first lifted by 4.5 metres till 8.20 am on Saturday, but to release more water, the height of the gates were lifted to 5.5 metres at 3.30 pm and after that the gates were lifted up to 6 metres at 6 pm,” said R M Dhote, Deputy Engineer, Irrigation Department, while talking to The Hitavada. Along with Totladoh, the administration also have to open gates of Navegaon Khairy which caused flood in Kanhan river. Due to heavy water flow in Kanhan river, connectivity of Parseoni with Nagpur was snapped. Water is flowing over Naya Kund bridge which disconnected Ramtek and other villages like Nandgaon, Yesamba, Pipri, Kalafata, Umaripali, Salai, Singardeep, Dorli, Ganana, Garanda and Tamaswadi from rest of the world.
Water gushing out of the gates of Totladoh Dam after the region witnessed heavy rainfall on Saturday.
Ensure compensation to flood-affected, demands Bawankule Former Guardian Minister of Nagpur Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday demanded compensation to flood-affected people of Nagpur district. Heavy rainfall caused flood in Kanhan and Pench rivers in the district and affected normal life, especially of those residing near the bank of both rivers. Bawankule also demanded survey to access loss to citizens due to floods, and proper compensation as early as possible.
He said, Parseoni, Saoner, Ramtek, Kamptee, Kuhi and Mauda talukas are the worst affected due to flood. Many houses and thousands of hectare of land in these talukas submerged causing great loss to even farmers.
NDRF team rescues fisherman from Pench river A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) of Nagpur rescued a fisherman from Pench river on Saturday morning. The team got information from the administration about a person stranded on an island near Ghogra village due to sudden rise in water level in Pench river on Friday evening. Due to lack of proper light, NDRF’s helicopter failed to rescue the man on Friday night. On Saturday morning, the team managed to rescue the fisherman from the spot. (With inputs from Ramtek, Parseoni Correspondents)
25 villages in district affected due to floods
Staff Reporter :
As many as 11,064 persons in 2,907 families in 25 villages in Nagpur district were affected due to floods. Ravindra Thakare, District Collector, stated in a press release issued on Saturday that the district administration had shifted several affected families to various schools with the help of State Disaster Response Force and National Disaster Response Force. The team of Indian Army also was engaged in rescue operations, Thakare stated. The tehsil-wise names of affected villages is as follows: Mouda tehsil -- Mouda town, Chehadi, Sukhadi, Nerla, Kirnapur, Kumbharpur, Singori, Zullar, and Wadna; Kamptee -- Gorabazar, Sonegaon, Aajni, Bhamewada, Juni Kamptee, Bina, Neri, and Bid-Bina; Parseoni -- Kalafata, Pipri, Juni Kamptee, Singardeep, Salai Maoli, and Pali; Kuhi -- Chichghat and Awarmara.
Restricted water supply in three Zones Flooding of Kanhan river has affected functioning of intake wells of Kanhan Water Treatment Plant (WTP) as it got submerged on Saturday. Still the WTP is operational at 50 per cent of its rated capacity. This has resulted in reduced clear water pumping to Nagpur city, adversely affecting water supply to Ashi Nagar, Satranjipura and Nehru Nagar zones. As it will take minimum 4 days for water to recede and make the situation normal. Citizens residing in these zones will be get restricted water supply. Kanhan river was in spate since Saturday after heavy downpour in the catchment areas of Kanhan river in Satpura village and opening of all 16 gates of Navegaon Khairy Dam. This flood has displaced and damaged numerous low-lying houses and river bank slum-dwellers. The materials flowing with the river water and damage of the embankment and retaining structures along the river stream caused maximum damage to industrial units and houses in the area around entire stretch of the river.
Power supply hit in Nagpur rural Power supply in Nagpur rural area was badly affected due to flooding of Kanhan river. An official of Maharastra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) informed that flood water gushed in low-lying areas of Khapa municipal council. Hence, transformers installed in such areas of the sub-division were isolated/disconnected as a precautionary measure. A total of 20 transformers were shut down during the process. Of them, five were submerged in floods, the official said. Similarly, flood water gushed in Chapegadi village in Kuhi tehsil. An 11 kv Mohgaon feeder from Chapegadi sub-station and Mohgaon, Sawangi Mothi, Sawangi Lahan, Agargaon villages supply could not be restored. Both the feeders are partially charged as water level is still increasing around Chapegadi village. Power supply in Khaparkheda area also was affected due to floods. MSEDCL has switched off transformers supplying power to Bina, Gosewadi, Sillewada and Bhanegaon. MSEDCL has urged people for co-operation stating the power supply was disconnected as precautionary measure.