Narmada river crosses danger mark at Golden bridge in Bharuch, low-lying areas flooded

Bharuch: Several low-lying areas of Gujarat's Bharuch town were inundated after the Narmada river on Tuesday crossed the danger mark of 24 feet at Golden bridge following continuous inflow of dam waters from adjoining Madhya Pradesh, said an official.

The river, which originates in Madhya Pradesh, was flowing at 27 feet at Golden bridge, he said.

While 280 people living in low-lying areas in Bharuch town were shifted as a precautionary measure on Monday, no new evacuation was carried out on Tuesday as the situation was under control, said district collector Tushar Sumera.

"The Narmada river is currently flowing at 27 feet, which is above the danger level of 24. The water level is stable at present. We had moved 280 people yesterday and no new shifting was needed today. Our teams have been deployed at 27 villages situated on the river bank. We will take a call about shifting people if need arises," said Sumera.

Following a huge inflow of water from the Omkareshwar dam situated in Madhya Pradesh on the upstream of Narmada, authorities had on Monday opened 23 out of 30 gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in neighbouring Narmada district, which resulted in river level swelling in Bharuch.

Now, with a significant decrease in the inflow of water, eight gates have been shut and nearly 3 lakh cusecs water is now being released in the river from 15 gates, said Narmada district collector SK Modi.

He added that the Sardar Sarovar Dam's water storage currently stands at 134 metres, nearly four metres less than its full reservoir level of 138.68 metres.