Bidar district which has been witnessing incessant rain in the last few days continued to receive rainfall on Tuesday also.
The district received 17.02 mm rain in the last 24 hours with Santapur in Aurad taluk recording the maximum of 21.6 mm rainfall and Kohinoor in Basavakalyan taluk receiving the minimum of 8 mm.
As many as 28 houses have been partially damaged in rain across the district.
Bidar taluk topped the list with 20 houses collapsing partially, followed by Bhalki with six and Aurad two.
Revenue officials rushed to the villages and reported back to their higher-ups as soon as they received calls from villagers.
Kalaburagi district also saw continuous drizzling throughout the day. Residents in Kalaburagi city had to suffer as rainwater overflowed onto the roads at many places owing to poorly maintained roads and drainage system. Farm activities have come to a standstill in the last couple of days.
Though most of the reservoirs in Kalaburagi and Bidar districts are receiving a fairly good amount of inflow, their waters are yet to reach the full level.
As per information provided by the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL), Bennetore Reservoir in Kalaburagi district held 3.36 tmcft of water against a full capacity of 5.29 tmcft. Karanja Reservoir in Bidar district held 5.09 tmcft of water against a full capacity of 7.69 tmcft.
The average inflow into the Tungabhadra Reservoir at Munirabad in Koppal district has remained less than 80,000 cusecs in the last two days. At 3 p.m. on Tuesday, the inflow into the dam was recorded at 73,833 cusecs. The reservoir held 97.105 tmcft of water against a capacity of 105.788 tmcft. The water level stood at 1,630.80 ft against a full reservoir level of 1,633 feet.
As the reservoir is almost full now, the authorities concerned have increased outflow, both through the spillways and into the canals, to over 20,000 cusecs. Water discharge into the river course was recorded at 16,318 cusecs and into canals at 4,486 cusecs at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
By 7 pm, water discharge was increased to 34,416 cusecs by raising 12 gates by two feet.
The Tungabhadra Reservoir authorities issued a second flood warning message at 9 a.m. notifying the Koppal, Raichur, Vijayanagara, Ballari district administrations in the State and the Kurnool district administration in Andhra Pradesh about the possibility of a rise in water discharge up to one lakh cusecs any time and requesting them to take necessary precautions downstream.
Deputy Commissioner of Vijayanagara Anirudh Sravan, along with Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Panchayat Bhoyar Harshal and Superintendent of Police K. Arun, visited the reservoir in the evening to take stock of the situation.
Speaking to media representatives after the visit, Mr. Sravan said that the district administration is ready to handle the flood situation if water discharge from the dam is further increased.
“If Tungabhadra rises further owing to increased water discharge from the reservoir, as many as 15 villages may face flood situation. We have already formed a task force. We are prepared to handle the situation,” Mr. Sravan said.
