Belgaum: A drastic rise in the inflow into the Krishna river following the release of huge amounts of water from dams in Maharashtra and the incessant rains lashing the border district, left eight bridges submerged in Belgaum on Thursday.
The Almatti dam which almost turned dry two weeks ago, is now recording an inflow of 60,000 cusec every day while the inflow into river Krishna is more 1 lakh cusecs. At many places where the bridges have been submerged, people are facing the threat of floods and traffic is being diverted to alternative routes.
According to sources, about 214 mm rain has been registered in neighbouring Mahabaleshwar, the origin point of the Krishna river, in the last two days. The inflow into Koyna dam too has gone up in the past five days. The inflow into both Almatti and Krishna is expected to further shoot up in the event of more rains on the inter-state border in the next few days.
Most of the seven bridges that are submerged in Chikkodi region are low-lying and so the possibility of accidents is high during the rainy season. The Kudchi bridge, which connects several parts of Maharashtra and north Karnataka is on the verge of getting submerged near Raibag. Vehicles will have to be diverted via Jamkhandi if the Kudchi bridge gets submerged. For the past few days, Asoga bridge near Khanapur is under water with people living in the village totally cut off from Khanapur town.
People living in the low-lying areas of Manjari, Yedur, Kallol and Bhivshi are expected to be affected the worst if the Krishna river level rises further. The standing crop in most of these villages is already partially under water due to the overflowing Krishna.
According to the district administration, none of the tributaries of Krishna river are flowing above the danger level now and there is no need for people to get panic.
The bridges that remained submerged in Belgaum on Thursday are Kallol-Yedur, Sadalaga-Borgaon, Karadga-Bhoj, Ghoj Kunur, Sidnal-Akkol, Jarat-Bhivshi, Malikwad -Dattwad and Asoga bridge.
