Sky though seems dry, the rivers passing traversed across East & West Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura however have shown a rising trend nearing Danger Level as a result of unrelenting runoff, seepage from the surface catchment areas resulting a sustained threat perception for the lower basin districts like Hooghly, Howrah.
The 4312 square km weighted area comprising Barakar river (East & West) Damodar (East & West) and Lower Valley (West & South) recorded just ‘0’ mm weighted average rainfall today. The Damodar Valley Corporation Dams Maithon and Panchet maintained 6,000 Cusecs & 43,000 Cusecs discharge rate in the afternoon purposely to create accommodation for upstream runoff and drainage from the uncontrolled channels, the senior Central Water Commission officials hinted. The Konar dam built on a tributory of Damodar in Hazaribagh also discharged a meagre 8,000 Cusecs as it’s catchment recorded 194.2 mm rainfall on Saturday.
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The upper catchment areas of both the Barakar and the Damodar rivers haven’t recorded any precipitation in last 24 hours however. “The discharge rate at Panchet will have a substantial reduction by late evening hours today as the reservoir almost has returned back to a healthy level,” said Shashi Rakesh, Member Secretary, Damodar Valley River Regulation Committee late this afternoon. The Guide Curves of four DVC dams – Tilaiya, Konar, Maithon and Panchet including the Jharkhand government owned Tenughat reflecting respective water levels at 1197.49 feet, 1385.28 feet, 483.50 feet, 417.07 feet and 853.30 feet – all below their extreme capacity marks this evening suggested that neither of the dams required relief through any severe discharge.
The Damodar basin has a total catchment area of 25,820 square km and is a n inevitable part of the Ganges River System. The river runs through flat alluvial plain after it’s confluence with Barakar River and runs further towards South East and East upto Barsul in East Burdwan. After that the river takes a sharp Southern turn near Chanchai village that eventually hits Khanakul block in Hooghly and Udaynarayanpur in Howrah – close to it’s confluence point with Rupnarayan river.
Nearly 41 blocks in Lower Damodar Valley in East Burdwan, Hooghly, Howrah have faced the flood threat perception and nearly 170 villages have already faced partial inundation causing collapse of houses and their roads submerged. The Durgapur Barrage, as stated Sanjoy Majumdar, Executive Engineer, Damodar Headworks of the state Irrigation this evening: “Has been releasing at 55,000 Cusecs rate.”
East Burdwan recorded it’s first flood casualty at Denur in Monteswar where a Class X boy Surya Ghosh got drowned in Khori river flow and the body was fished out by the Disaster Management team today. The rivers like Mundeswari (a lower basin tributary of Damodar), Bhagirathi recorded showing either unstable or rising trend st different Gauge Stations, the Irrigation officials stated.
