Water released from Dharoi reaches Ahmedabad, 21 gates of Vasna barrage opened, water level way below danger mark

Ahmedabad: The water discharged from Dharoi Dam on river Sabarmati in Mahesana district of North Gujarat arrived here today in the wake of which 21 of the total 30 sluice gates of the Vasna barrage on the outskirts of the city have been opened for free flow releasing around 29673 cubic meter of water per second (cusec) at 4 pm this evening with an equal amount arriving currently from Dharoi here.

A fresh increased discharge of 40650 cusec from Dharoi dam has started at around 4 pm and this water is likely to arrive Ahmedabad tomorrow giving another surge to the water level but likely not enough to create worries for the city.

The water level of the river near Vasna is 128 ft at 4 pm today almost 9 ft below the danger mark of 137 ft. However it has increased around 3 ft in last six hours owing to the inflow and is likely to rise up to 4 ft after which it is likely to recede. It will also increase again on arrival of fresh discharge from Dharoi. currently the discharge from main Narmada canal was 1536 cusec.

Earlier the water discharged yesterday from Dharoi dam reached Indira bridge at a speed of 54000 cusec at around nine am today and reached Vasna at 10 am. The 21 gates of the barrage were opened for free flow (completely) at around 11 am today and these were kept open. 18 gates were opened yesterday but later 15 of them were closed late night, an official on duty in the main control room of the AMC today said.

Now the water inflow has also reduced considerably. Our outflow is 29673 cusec but as the earlier water discharged at the higher flow rate of 54000 cusec will continue to come for some more time the water level will continue to rise and later it would recede. In any case it is not going to touch the walk way and the lower promenade, he said adding that even the current increased discharge from Dharoi will not be a matter of worry for the city.

Earlier it was estimated that the water discharged yesterday would reach Ahmedabad late last night but owing to slowed down discharge rate its speed also came down.

All the 102 gates of the lower promenade of the Sabarmati riverfront remained closed and around 160 guards deputed to check any illegal entry as a precautionary measure on the second consecutive day today. Police vans and Ahmedabad municipal corporation vehicles made announcement in the low lying areas like Chandrabhaga, Bakrol, Fatehwadi, Piplaj, Pirana and Gopalpur for people to be on alert.

The main control room of the AMC had informed that the water released from Dharoi dam in the wake of the heavy rainfall in the upstream areas in neighbouring Rajasthan is likely to reach Ahmedabad at around 11 pm or later. It was not as huge as the last year’s release of around 2.5 lakh cusec from the same dam which flooded several low lying areas in and around city and submerged parts of lower promenade of the riverfront in July 2015.

Notably, more than 1,500 people, including 500 people from the city, were evacuated to safer locations due to sudden floods in the Sabarmati river after water was released from the Dharoi dam in July last year. The water level dramatically rose after 2.5 lakh cusecs of water was released into the river then following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. Around 1,000 locals of 13 villages situated near the banks of the Sabarmati river were also shifted to safer locations.

DeshGujarat