Many dam gates opened after rains across region; soya, cotton at stake

Nagpur: Though the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) sounded an alert on heavy rainfall in the region, the situation was under control even as some of the pockets saw major downpour, said officials.
Out of the record maintained for 10 rivers flowing through districts under Nagpur division by state’s water resources department (WRD), only two — Bagh and Bawanthadi — in Gondia are flowing above the danger mark.
Two out of seven gates of the Nand dam and three of the Vadgaon project in Nagpur district have been opened 0.15 and 0.10 meter, says a note from the WRD.
So far none of the gates of Totladoh dam on Pench river have been opened. It is a large irrigation project of the region catering to drinking water needs of the city.
The water level in Totladoh is at 83.39% and Chaurai dam, also on the Pench river on Madhya Pradesh side, has 93.30% water. Once Chaurai dam gets full the run off will be released to Totladoh in Maharashtra after which its gates may have to be opened, said sources.
The IMD warning is from September 21 to 24. Elsewhere in Nagpur division, gates of Bor, Lower Wardha in Wardha and Gosikhurd dams at Bhandara have been opened.
At the Bor dam, 13 have been opened till 4.5 meters. Even Lower Wardha’s 13 gates are opened at a height of 0.3 meters. The Gosikhurd dam has 21 gates opened at 0.50 meters. At the same time, 24 gates of the Mendigatta barrage in Telangana are opened, says the note
In Amravati division, three gates of the Upper Wardha dam, a large project in Amravati district, have been opened apart from Bembla and Wan in Yavatmal and Akola districts respectively. The Khadakpurna project in Buldhana, which is a drought prone area, also has its five gates open.
However, there is no flood like situation anywhere in the division, said divisional commissioner Piyush Singh.
It has been learnt through regional metrological centre that Wani taluka in Yavatmal received 85mm rainfall which is taken as excessive downpour. According to RMC sources there was light to moderate rainfall in Amravati, Washim and Buldhana.
Vijay Jawandhia, a farm activist from Wardha, said the rains have already taken a toll on the soyabean crop and cotton is also at stake.
Officials of the agriculture department too expressed concern that continuing rains may hamper soyabean crop.