State reservoirs filled to brim, flood threat looms

RAIPUR: With incessant rains lashing several part of Chhattisgarh, a flood alert has been declared in districts of Dhamtari, Bemetara, Janjgir, Korba, Gariyaband, Kanker, Bastar and Mahasamund. According to officials, almost all the rivers including Mahanadi, Shivnath river, Pairy river, Hasdeo river were in spate due to huge quantities of water being released from dams.
Schools in two blocks of Dhamtari were closed on Tuesday as many areas in the vicinity of Mahanadi River were flooded. While there was no official confirmation, two people were suspected to have been washed away in Bastar and Surguja district. At least 100 villages in the affected districts were marooned.
All the major reservoirs in the state are filled to the capacity. According to officials, the reservoirs that are over 90% full are Minimata Bango (Korba), Saroda (Kabirdham), Kedar nala (Raigarh), Pendrawan (Raipur), Tandula (Balod).
These districts and some other part of the state have been witnessing continuous rainfall for the last 48 hours. According to met officials, similar conditions are likely to prevail for the next two days. The heavy downpour, which has already exceeded the state's average rainfall by 3%, is being attributed to the build up of low pressure over south western region.
According to Dhamtari collector Bhimsen, the situation is under control. "About 50 villages are flooded and people staying there have been advised to move to safer areas," he said.
Janjgir collector OP Choudhary said situation could worsen at night as both Bango and Gangrel dam have been releasing water continuously and there is no respite from rain either.
According to officials, over 1.64 lakh cusecs of water was released from Gangrel dam in Dhamtari. Water from three other dams in the districts Murumsilli (3.715 cusecs), Sondur (10,880 cusecs) and Dudhawa (7,648 cusecs) was also released. About 25,000 cusecs of water was released from Sikasar dam in Gariyaband.
Bemetara jila panchayat CEO Janak Prasad Pathak said though the water level has been increasing in Shivnath river, it's still under the danger mark. In Ambikapur, incessant rains had affected services at the newly built super speciality hospital.