Bad news for Maharashtra may turn good for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as water levels in two important tributaries -- Krishna and Godavari river basins -- are set to rise, according to a Central Water Commission (CWC) advisory that was issued on Tuesday.
In Maharashtra, heavy to very heavy rainfall, with extremely heavy rainfall isolated in certain areas, was forecast for the next two days in certain areas of the state. A bridge on the Savitri river in Raigad district washed away on Wednesday and at least 22 people were missing. Nashik also experienced flooding leading to deaths of at least five people.
Nashik, Ahmednagar, Pune, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra were affected by the rising water levels in the Godavari and Krishna basin.
The Krishna river, which runs through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh up to Srisailam reservoir, has been swelling and water will be released from reservoirs when there is more inflow, CWC officials were quoted as saying by the Hindu.
The officials have alerted the disaster management teams in all the four states to keep a look out on the reservoirs — Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs, both in Vijayapura district of Karnataka, and Jurala project in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana — that are rapidly getting full or are already full.
The Srisailam reservoir could be releasing water in the next four to seven days as the level is rapidly increasing. The authorities have been alerted to stay watchful.
The rapid increase water levels in Godavari is expected to affect Nasik, Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts of Maharashtra.
"Heavy to very heavy rain occurred at isolated places over Madhya Maharashtra and heavy at isolated places over Konkan and Goa from 0830 hours IST to 1730 hours IST Tuesday," said the Meteorological Department on Wednesday.
Sriramsagar, Yellampally, Kaddam and Jurala irrigation projects in Telangana are already releasing water after receiving excessive rain.
The rain will help farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana after they experienced drought for years due to the El Nino effect.
