Maharashtra: Heavy rains lash Marathwada; dam water release causes flooding in villages of Beed, Latur

Heavy rain in catchment areas of the Manjara dam forced authorities to open all its gates for water discharge on Tuesday leading to flooding in some villages of Maharashtras Beed district and neighbouring Latur while an alert was sounded in other neighbouring districts of the Marathwada region officials saidIn Latur the local administration and the National Disaster Response Force NDRF launched an operation to rescue 47 stranded residents of Sarsa village which was flooded due to water discharge from the Manjara dam they saidWhen contacted Latur Collector Prithviraj B P told PTI that 158 villages in his district could be affected by the discharge of water from the Manjara damWe are closely monitoring the situation in villages located where the course of the Manjara river changes and the site where the Terna and Manajra rivers meet he saidBesides in Beed several families from the affected villages were shifted to safer places officials said adding that so far there was no report of any casualtyAfter heavy rains on Monday night the Manjara and Majalgaon dams in Beed were filled up to their maximum capacityThe local administration opened all 18 gates of the Manjara dam and 11 gates of the Majalgaon dam early Tuesday morning resulting in discharge of 78397 cusec 80534 cusec water from them respectively officials saidAlso read Maharashtra to pay compensation for flood damage as per 2019 formulaThe discharge of water from the Manjara dam led to flooding in villages under Kaij and Ambajogai talukas of Beed district Ambajogai tehsildar Vipin Patil saidVillages like Isthal in Kaij taluka Apegaon Tadola Kopra Anjanpur Deora Tat Borgaon Akola all in Ambajogai taluka located on the Manjara river banks were facing flooding and waterlogging Nearly 110 families from some of these floodaffected areas were shifted to safer places the official saidThe Majalgaon irrigation departments office has also written to Beed Parbhani and Nanded collectors to sound an alert in villages located along the Sindphana and Godavari rivers in their respective areasBeed district disaster management authority official Umesh Shirke said The next 24 hours are crucial No casualty has been reported so farThe district administration is on alert Beed Collector Radhabinod Sharma said adding that people were being shifted to safer placesThe discharge of water from the Manjara dam also led to flooding in Sarsa village of Latur located around 40 km from the city subdivisional officer Sunil Yadav saidVillagers who had set up their houses on farmland were stranded due to floods caused by water discharge from the dam he saidPeople had not witnessed this kind of flooding in the area The water level here is nearly two feet and as a precaution we are shifting villagers to a safer place An 11member team of the NDRF has been deployed The first batch of five persons is being rescued by a boat the official saidThe rescue operation started around 1130 am he said adding that no casualty has been reported so farIn Beed district Isthal village resident Pandhari Tokle said the water level began to rise in their area on Monday nightThe water rose up to nearly three feet Residents started shifting to safer places from 4 am on Tuesday There is no person or animal left in the village now The situation is more or less the same in the nearby Anjanpur and Apegaon villages in Ambajogai taluka he saidHeavy rains lashed eight districts in Marathwada on Monday inundating several parts of the region another official saidThe cumulative rainfall in eight districts of Marathwada has reached 14662 per cent with several parts of 182 circles getting waterlogged the official saidHeavy rains were witnessed in 65 circles of Nanded 30 in Latur 29 in Beed 17 in Hingoli 13 in Jalna 13 10 in Aurangabad and six in Parbhani the official saidThe region has received an average rainfall of 9963 mm against average rainfall of 6795 mm expected during this period it was statedNanded has so far received 11496 mm rain followed by Parbhani10853 mm and Jalna 10762 mmUsuf circle in Beed received the highest 211 mm rain in a single day followed by Shiradhon in Osmanabad171 mm Golegaon Nanded16750 mm and Soyegaon Aurangabad14125 mm it was statedAccording to the district administration the inflow in Jayakwadi dam of Aurangabad is 17481 cusec and the dam is currently filled up to 8504 per cent of its total capacityOf the 13 reservoirs in the region water is being discharged from 10 an official said adding that the highest amount of discharge was from the Vishnupuri dam in Nanded at 111594 cusecThe Nimn Terna dam in Osmanabad has reached 100 per cent storage The storage in the reservoir on the same same day last year was 3507 per cent he said