Maha: People from flood-prone areas of Kolhapur being shifted to safety in view of downpour

Traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway got disrupted on Friday after a stretch of road in Belgaum district of Karnataka got inundated, prompting the police in Maharashtras Kolhapur to stop the vehicles going to the neighbouring state as a safety measure, officials said.District guardian minister Satej Patil said that in view of the downpour, steps were being taken to evacuate people and livestock to safer places.

The authorities are taking steps to shift people residing in flood-prone parts of Maharashtra's Kolhapur because of the incessant rains in the district, where the Panchganga river is flowing much above the danger mark, a state minister said on Friday. Traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway got disrupted on Friday after a stretch of road in the Belgaum district of Karnataka got inundated, prompting the police in Maharashtra Kolhapur to stop the vehicles going to the neighboring state as a safety measure, officials said.

District guardian minister Satej Patil said that because of the downpour, steps were being taken to evacuate people and livestock to safer places. He also said that the state authorities were in touch with the Karnataka government over the release of water from the Almatti dam in that state. The backwaters of this dam fall in Maharashtra. Talking about the traffic situation on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, Kolhapur’s district superintendent of police Shailesh Balkawde said, “Ahead of Kagal (in Kolhapur), a stretch of road near a village in Belgaum district of Karnataka has got inundated due to rainwater on Friday. Therefore, we have stopped the flow of traffic going towards the neighboring state from the Kolhapur side.” ''Since the water level is increasing near Shiroli village located along the highway, we may close the route for traffic,'' he said. An official from the Kolhapur district disaster management cell said the water level of the Panchganga river continues to rise.

“By 4 pm on Friday, the water level of the river at the Rajaram weir reached 53.10 feet. It is well above the danger mark of 43 feet,” he said.

A total of 114 bunds have gone underwater, he added.

Patil said he has directed the district administration to shift the people and livestock affected due to the flooding to safer places immediately.

Directions have been given to divert the traffic through Kognoli on the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway to Chandgad, Ajara, and Gadhinglaj, he said. ''In the last 24 hours, the catchment areas of Radhanagari dam received 567 mm rainfall and in the catchment areas of Tulshi dam, over 800 mm rainfall was recorded. So the average rainfall of the district is between 200 mm to 250 mm,'' he said.

''During the 2019 floods in Kolhapur, the water level of the Panchganga river at Rajaram weir had reached 55 feet. So keeping all these things in mind, necessary measures, such as the evacuation of people and livestock from flood-prone villages are being taken,'' he said.

According to him, precautionary measures were being taken anticipating that more water will be released from the dams by evening.

''We are constantly talking to the Karnataka government about the water release from the Almatti dam. They have increased the rate of water release from the dam,'' he said.

According to the district administration, till 8 am on Friday, 1,70,000 cusec water was released from the Almatti dam. Patil said that as water has come on the stretch on Mumbai-Bengaluru road between Belgaum and Kolhapur districts, the road has been closed for vehicular traffic. ''I have spoken to the police officials from Pune, Satara to stop the Karnataka-bound traffic flow. I appeal to people going to Karnataka to stop wherever they are and wait for the water to recede,'' he added.

Officials of the district administration had said on Thursday said that as many as 47 villages in Kolhapur were cut off after roads leading to them were submerged in water due to heavy rains and 965 families were shifted to safer places.

They had also said that two persons, including a woman, were also swept away at different places in the district during the downpour.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)