Sardar Sarovar 2.8 m short of full level, gates opened higher to release more water

On Monday, a day after the SSNNL opened nine of the 30 radial gates of the dam till 1.5 meters, the level was increased to 2.1 metres to release up to 1.5 lakh cusecs of water as the dam level rose to 135.85 metres.

On Monday, the inflow into Sardar Sarovar from Indirasagar and Omkareshwar dams in Madhya Pradesh remained at 2.29 lakh cusecs as the live storage increased to 3840.53 Million Cubic Metres.

An official said, “On Sunday, as the level crossed 134 meters, it was decided to open the nine radial gates to continue a balanced filling up to the FRL. However, as the inflow from Madhya Pradesh has been steady at around 2.5 lakh cusecs since the last week, it was decided to increase the height of the open gates to 2.1 metres around 11.30am on Monday to maintain the level… The river downstream is flowing in full capacity, leading to the Garudeshwar Weir overflow. We have also sent out flood alerts to all district administrations concerned.”

According to the Gujarat Water Resource Department data, 62 of the 206 dams across the state are on high alert, 49 dams are filled up to 100% capacity while 40 dams are in the range of 70 to 100% filling.

Due to the swelling Narmada river, about 80 villages along the course in the districts of Narmada, Vadodara, and Bharuch have been alerted and the villagers have been asked to evacuate and shift to safer locations.