Standing crops damaged as Narmada flood water recedes; Mahisagar continues to swell

As the Narmada flood water receded on Tuesday, temples located on the riverbank as well as farmers and villagers, whose fields and homes were inundated, began assessing the damage.

The century-old Mahakaleshwar Mahadev temple ghat with about 100 steps – located on the banks of Narmada at Shinor in Vadodara district – was swept away.

The Kuber Bhandari temple complex at Karnali village in Dabhoi taluka has suffered severe damage. Karnali, where the flood water had reached up to 15 feet, has undertaken cleaning and sanitation work on war footing.

Kuber Bhandari temple administrator Rajnibhai Pandya said, “After two decades, we witnessed such fury of Goddess Narmada… The entire facility erected for devotees has been washed out while the shed erected to cook meals for bhandaras has been submerged. The temple wall has been damaged.” He added that other temples have also faced damage as has 90 per cent of the village.

Karjan dam in Narmada district, meanwhile, recorded FRL of 113.70 m as against 115.25 m. Though flood water is yet to withdraw completely, widespread destruction of standing crops, especially vast expanses of banana plantations, can be seen at Karjan.

District administrations, including Anand, Narmada and Vadodara, have set up health teams to survey areas where flood waters are receding. Anand district administration has formed 10 teams to attend to incidents of water-borne diseases. It has also begun an assessment of the damage in Borsad, Umeta and Anklav areas.

The ungated Wanakbori Dam on Mahi river in Kheda district began overflowing on Tuesday, recording a level of 71,17 m, above its FRL of 67.30 m. The dam is receiving an inflow of over 2 lakh cusec water, which is overflowing downstream. As a result, the Shedhi river has flooded, resulting in the Anand administration closing the road connecting Umreth (Anand district) to Dakor in Kheda.

In Dahod district, the Kali dam began overflowing on Tuesday while Ukai dam in Tapi district recorded a level of 104.45 m as against the FRL of 105.16 m. Ukai dam is currently releasing 1.9 lakh cusec while the inflow is 1.39 lakh cusec.

With heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Pratappura reservoir and Vishwamitri river, water level is steadily rising in the river intersecting Vadodara city. Even as rain took a pause in the city on Tuesday, the water level was recorded at 16.57 feet at Akota bridge of Vishwamitri while the level at Kala Ghoda bridge was at 13.5 feet. The river begins overflowing into the low lying areas around 22.5 feet in some parts of the city.

Meanwhile, the Western Railways continued to suspend operations between Pratapnagar station in Vadodara city and Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar in Narmada due to heavy rainfall.

In Bharuch, the district administration sprung into action on Tuesday to initiate clean-up efforts in areas affected by the flood. As of now, no casualties related to the flood have been reported by the administration.

The water level of Narmada river reached 41 feet below the Golden Bridge in Bharuch, primarily due to the heavy discharge of water from the Sardar Sarovar dam. Consequently, several coastal villages were inundated. Power services were also disrupted in some areas of Bharuch town and coastal villages.

Sources in the district administration said that more than 5,800 affected people have been shifted to secure locations. Approximately 15 per cent of the town’s coastal area was submerged, with the water level reaching up to 10 feet.

Officials, youth volunteers and political leaders, meanwhile, joined forces to distribute food packets and water bottles to those stranded in the floodwaters on Monday and Tuesday.

Beyond Bharuch town, floodwaters reached over 10 coastal villages in Ankleshwar taluka and 58 residential societies on Ankleshwar Hansot road.

The water level began receding late Monday, bringing some relief to Bharuch town and the coastal villages.

Bharuch District Collector Tushar Sumera told The Indian Express, “Over 600 teams are working round-the-clock. We are providing food packets to the people. Power will be restored in urban areas by Tuesday evening and in some rural areas by Wednesday morning.”

He added, “This is the first time in 50 years that the water level in Narmada river has reached 41 feet below the Golden Bridge. In 1973, it had reached the same level, resulting in over 300 casualties. This time, due to our preparedness, not a single death has been reported so far.”

Sumera further said that his teams will soon assess the losses incurred by the residents of the district.