Karnataka increases water discharge from Almatti dam

Karnataka has so far discharged 4.50 lakh cusecs water from the Almatti dam, a move which is expected to ease flood situation in Kolhapur and Sangli districts of Maharashtra.

An official in the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) here said at present the discharge from the dam on the Krishna river in Bijapur district of neighbouring Karnataka was 4,50,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second).

The discharge from the dam was 4,30,352 cusecs at 10 am on Friday which was later raised to 4,50,000, he said.

The official said by Friday evening, the discharge would be 5 lakh cusecs as demanded by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis from his Karnataka counterpart B S Yediyurappa.

Fadnavis had said on Thursday that he had requested his Karnataka counterpart to discharge 5 lakh cusecs, a demand which he has agreed to.

The CM had said discharge from the Almatti dam will result in drop in water level in Kolhapur and Sangli district in western Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Fadnavis on Friday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the flood situation in the state.

A statement from the CMO said the Prime Minister took detailed information on the situation, rescue and relief measures and assured all assistance from the Centre.

An Indian Air Force helicopter has landed in Sangli, where it will be deployed to distribute relief material, the statement said.

A total of 34 teams are working in Kolhapur and 36 in Sangli. These include teams of the NDRF, Navy, Coast Guard and SDRF, it added.

Besides Sangli and Kolhapur, Satara, Pune and Solapur districts are also reeling under floods.

As of Thursday, over two lakh people have been evacuated to safer places in these five flood-affected districts.