The Central Water Commission (CWC) has said that major rivers flowed in severe flood situation on Saturday at 33 stations across Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana and one each in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal on account of enhanced monsoon conditions generated by successive low-pressure areas from the Bay of Bengal.

The South Peninsula has not witnessed heavy showers a couple of intervening low-pressure areas chose to look the other way and bore down on East, Central, West and North-West India. The US National Centres for Environment Prediction assesses that it would not be until the first week of September when the next round of meaningful rains can come to the southern states.

The WCC said on Saturday that at least 27 stations in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana witnessed rivers in above normal flood conditions. This is even as a well-marked low-pressure area takes its own time dropping its voluminous contents over Madhya Pradesh and prepares to move towards Gujarat and South Rajasthan over the next 2-3 days.

Well-marked low sits pretty

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has maintained its watch for another low-pressure area spinning up over the North-West Bay likely on Sunday. Rains are expected to scale up once again over East and adjoining Central India. Isolated heavy to very heavy falls may lash Odisha until Tuesday; over plains of West Bengal on Monday and Tuesday; and Jharkhand on Tuesday.

The Godavari river and its tributaries are flowing in severe flood situation with slow rising trend. As the rainfall is likely to reduce, river level may slowly recede during next 2-3 days. It has called for maintaining a close watch on the situation in the districts of Nowrangpur, Koraput, Malkangiri in Odisha and Bastar, Sukma, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Bijapur in Chhattisgarh.

Rivers in spate, alert issued

Similarly, an alert has been called in the districts of Mandla, Betul, Seoni and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh; Bhandara, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli of Maharashtra; Mulugu, Bhadradri, and Kothagudem in Telangana; and East and West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, the CWC said in its bulletin issued on Saturday.

The Krishna river and tributaries such are expected to continue rising slowly and most of the dams in the basin are expected to release considerable quantity of water due to the predicted rainfall. Almost all the dams in Krishna basin in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have reached close to the full reservoir level.

Close watch is to be maintained in the districts of Pune, Satara and Kolhapur in Maharashtra; Bagalkote, Vijayapura, Raichur, Belagavi in Karnataka; Jogulamba Gadwal and Nalgonda in Telangana; and Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna of Andhra Pradesh, especially in view of the fact that neither low nor its travel path is brewing not too far away from their catchment areas.

Narmada river and its tributaries are expected to rise in Mandla as well as downstream of Bargi dam in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, as it is releasing excess water. The Mahi river and its tributaries too are expected to rise. Close watch is called for in the districts of Dhar, Jhabua, Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh; Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh in Rajasthan; and Mahisagar, Panchmahal and Kheda in Gujarat, the CWC said.

Heavy rain to continue

Meanwhile, during the nine hours ending on Saturday, the following centres received moderate to heavy rainfall (in cm). The IMD listed them as Alibagh-19; Bhuj and Bankura-7 each; Keshod, Gandhinagar, Dharmsala, Mukteshwar-5 each; Veraval, Sagar, Banihal, Mumbai (Santa Cruz) and Mahabaleshwar-4 each.

The IMD expected the laggard well-marked low-pressure area to take at least 2-3 days to move across West Madhya Pradesh. The parent monsoon trough continues to stay active under the watch of a helpful shear zone of monsoon turbulence, given that a fresh low is brewing in the Bay and could expectedly take a similar track as the predecessor for its onward movement.

Widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls is forecast for Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Telangana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan during next 2-3 days and isolated extremely heavy over East Rajasthan and Gujarat on Saturday and Sunday; for West Madhya Pradesh and North Madhya Maharashtra on Saturday; and Saurashtra and Kutch on Sunday and Monday.

An extended outlook for August 27-29 said that fairly widespread to widespread rainfall/thundershowers may break out over Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka coasts, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh; and scattered to fairly widespread rainfall/thundershowers for North-East and adjoining East India.

Isolated heavy to very heavy falls are seen over South Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, East Madhya Pradesh, East Rajasthan and Gujarat State during this period.

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