Alert sounded in Vadodara as Vishwamitri river level rises

The Vishwamitri, which was at about 15 feet Wednesday morning rose at a slow pace due to intermittent heavy rain in the city in addition to the water released from Ajwa.

Vadodara recorded a rainfall of 50.8 mm in a span of two hours on Wednesday afternoon causing water logging in the low-lying areas, including the underpass of the Vadodara railway station.

With the weather department predicting heavy rain across central Gujarat in the next 48 hours, five NDRF teams have been stationed in Vadodara.

The Ajwa reservoir, which was primarily responsible for the rising level of Vishwamitri this time, recorded a level of 212.5 feet on Tuesday night but gradually reduced to 212.20 by Wednesday evening as rain paused in the catchment areas of Halol.

However, since the Vadodara civic body, which regulates the Ajwa reservoir, set its overflow level at 212 feet, the reservoir will continue to release water into Vishwamitri.

Meanwhile, the steady release of about 4 lakh cusec water downstream from the 23 open gates and with the Orsang river overflowing in Chhota Udepur, the Narmada river in Bharuch is surging at 28 feet under the Golden Bridge.

The Bharuch district administration has evacuated locals from several villages along the Narmada in Bharuch and Ankleshwar.

With the Narmada dam storage reaching 134.8 metres Wednesday, just about four metres short of the full reservoir level (FRL), the six turbines of the Riverbed Powerhouse and three turbines of the Canal Head Powerhouse are running in full capacity, generating over 30 Million Units of electricity worth Rs 6 crore per day.

The live storage in the dam is 4,328 MCM with close to 15,000 cusec water being released into the main canal.