Marathwada floods: 12 gates of Manjara Dam opened; several parts of Beed, Latur inundated

Beed, Sep 23 (PTI) With incessant rains pounding Marathwada, 12 gates of Manjara Dam in Maharashtra's Beed district were opened after the reservoir reached its full capacity on Tuesday, causing a flood-like situation in the areas downstream and cutting off villages, officials said.

The Manjara Dam at Dhanegaon in Kaij tehsil reached 100 per cent capacity, and six gates of the reservoir were opened by 3 metres in the morning and six more were opened by 0.25 metres later in the day, they said.

The water discharge caused flooding in the downstream areas of the Manjara River in Beed and Latur districts of Maharashtra, and Bidar in neighbouring Karnataka, officials said.

At least 55,113.30 cusecs of water have been released into the river, affecting nearly 152 villages downstream up to Karnataka, sectional engineer Anup Giri said.

Heavy rainfall in the catchment areas and subsequent discharge from 12 gates of the dam have caused flooding in seven villages.

Floodwaters entered houses in Isthal and Wakdi in Kaij tehsil, and 15 families were moved to safer places, said Kaij tehsildar Rakesh Gidde.

Upstream villages, including Hadgaon, Bhopla, Daithana, Borgaon, and Pittighat, were also affected.

Apart from this, several villages were flooded due to discharge from the Nath Sagar Dam in Paithan and the Majalgaon Dam.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to evacuate residents from Sandas Chincholi and Depegaon villages in Majalgaon tehsil of Beed district since Monday.

Several villages have been cut off due to floodwaters, and communication has been disrupted.

According to authorities, the Godavari River is in spate, and extensive crop damage has been reported in Majalgaon tehsil.

In a critical operation, the NDRF helped a pregnant woman from Sandas Chincholi reach the hospital safely.

Floodwaters have submerged the Mogara bridge, cutting off connectivity to the villages of Dakepimpri, Mogara, Pohner, Salegaon, Kothala, Khatgavhan, and Digras. PTI COR ARU