Narmada dam to see cutback in inflow: Areas of Ankleshwar flooded, 500 evacuated

The Narmada dam is releasing 10.70 lakh cusec water as of Tuesday evening through its spillway with 23 open gates and about 40,000 cusec from the Riverbed Powerhouse (RBPH) after generation of 1200MW electricity — all of which flows towards Bharuch downstream. Another 17,000 cusec of water is also being released from the Canal Head Powerhouse (CHPH).

According to officials of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), Indirasagar dam which is located in Madhya Pradesh upstream from Narmada Dam, is set to cutback on the water being released into the basin from Tuesday night.

“They will cutback about 4 lakh out of around 11 lakh cusec water being released since Sunday. Narmada dam will receive about 7 lakh cusec water from Tuesday night onwards, which will also help reduce the flow into the river downstream and thereby provide respite to the district villages,” an official said.

SSNNL officials also hinted that if the flow of the water from Indirasagar is reduced significantly by Wednesday afternoon, Narmada dam could shut some of the 23 open gates in order to raise the level of the reservoir to its Full Reservoir Level of 138.68 metres.