Several rivers are in spate following heavy rains lashing many parts of Karnataka, especially villages located near Tunga and Tungabhadra rivers, officials said.
At least one lakh cusecs of water was released from Tungabhadra dam into the Tungabhadra river following heavy downpour in the catchment region and heavy inflow of water in Vijayanagara district.
The Tungabhadra dam with a storage capacity of 1,633 ft already has water level reaching 1,631 ft. To maintain the balance, one lakh cusecs of water was released, which has created a flood scare among the people living in the lower riparian of Tungabhadra dam. Officials have sounded an alert for the locals in the areas located near the course of the river. Of the 33 floodgates, 30 were opened on Sunday, following which many heritage sites of Vijayanagara dynasty in Hampi have submerged.
Sources in the Water Resources department said Bhadravati, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Krishna, Cauvery, Kabini, Hemavathi, Supa and Varahi, and their subsidiary rivers are in spate. The rivers in coastal Karnataka too are swollen and a majority of the dams built on these rivers are to the brim. According to the meteorology department, a low pressure area over northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts has resulted into a depression.
Heavy rainfall was reported in Castle Rock, Siddapur, Udupi, Murnadu in Kodagu; Nilkund ARG in the Uttara Kannada district; Kota in Udupi district, Mangaluru Airport, Somwarpet in Kodagu district; Panambur, Dharmasthala and Belthangadi in Dakshina Kannada; Honavar in Uttara Kannada; Puttur and Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada; Kalasa, Sringeri, Chikkamagaluru and Koppa in Chikkamagaluru, Hunchadakatte in Shivamogga.
"Heavy rain likely to occur at a few places with isolated very heavy falls over all the districts of coastal Karnataka and heavy to very heavy rain likely to occur at isolated places over Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts of south interior Karnataka," the department said in its forecast. The department said heavy rain was likely to occur at isolated places over Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Yadgir, Bagalkote, districts of north interior Karnataka and over Hassan and Shivamogga districts of south interior Karnataka.