The government on Tuesday issued an advisory forecast warning rapid rise in water levels of rivers in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Assam, Meghalaya and north Bengal following a prediction of heavy rainfall in the current week.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rains for the next three days in Gujarat and for the entire week in Konkan and Goa, coastal Karnataka, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
"Due to this warning, there is a likelihood of rise in water levels in various river basins," the Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry said in a statement.
The advisory forecast detailed the likely impact of these rains on Mumbai and different river basins -- Damanganga, Krishna, Brahmaputra, Barak and the west flowing river basins.
"Due to very heavy rainfall forecast with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in North Konkan on June 26, there is likelihood of urban flooding and associated inundation in view of the high tides associated with severe monsoon conditions," the statement said.
Rapid rise in water level is expected in Damanganga basin in the districts of Nasik in Maharashtra, Valsad in Gujarat and Daman in Union Territory of Daman and Diu during the next 48 hours.
Since the level in Madhuban Dam in Valsad is low, there will be good inflows increasing the water level and storage in the reservoir, the ministry said.
Rivers having source in Western Ghats and flowing into Arabian Sea may witness flash floods in association with the forecast rainfall during the next five days.
The ministry said necessary precautions in the old bridges along the highways and along the Konkan Railway routes needs be taken as flow may increase suddenly along the course of these rivers in districts of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Goa, and Uttara Kannada, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka.
In Krishna river basin, the river and its tributaries are likely to rise in upstream districts of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, and Sholapur districts in Maharashtra. Since most of the dams in Krishna basin are having very low storage, the inflows into dams in Maharashtra may increase with the forecast rainfall.
River Teesta and its tributaries are likely to rise in the districts of Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar in West Bengal and in Sikkim. Necessary precautions need to be taken in these rivers in Sikkim and West Bengal, it said.
In view of the forecast rainfall in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in the districts of Siang, East and West Kameng, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Chirang, Goalpara, Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, South Salmara and Dhubri districts, strict vigil along the rivers in these districts have to be maintained for the next three to five days.
In Barak basin, the river and its tributaries in Cachar, Hailakhandi and Karimgunj district of Assam and rivers Manu, Gumti, Haora and their tributaries in Tripura are also likely to rise depending on the intensity of rainfall, the ministry said.
--IANS
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