The Indian Meteorological Department has warned that heavy rainfall over the next three days is likely to lead to a ‘rapid rise’ in the levels of major rivers in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
It urged that caution should be exercised while release water from dams during this period.
The rivers that will see rising levels are Narmada, Ken, Betwa, Chambal, Mahi, Sabarmati.
“Rainfall forecast issued by India Meteorological Department for the next 3 days indicate that Heavy to Very Heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy falls in East and West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat during the period 13th to 16th July 2017.
“Presently, river levels are below Warning Level but due to this rainfall forecast there is likelihood of rapid rise in water levels in various basins,” the department warned.
It said there is sufficient storage available in the dams on these rivers. As such, releases should be done “judiciously taking into account the downstream rainfall conditions and river positions,” it added.
The following are the districts that are likely to be impacted by a rise in river water levels.
MADHYA PRADESH
In Madhya Pradesh, Narmada basin in Hoshangabad, Betul, Raisen Sehore, Khandwa, parts of Khargone, Dewas, Indore and Dhar, west Nimar, Jhabua will be impacted.
Similarly, Ken Basin in the districts of Jabalpur, Sagar, Damoh, Panna, Satna, Chhatarpur and Raisen could also see some rise in water levels.
Betwa Basin in the districts of Tikamgarh, Sagar, Vidisha, Raisen, Bhopal, Guna, Shivpuri and Chhatarpur could be impacted.
Chambal Basin in districts of Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam, Mandsaur and Neemuch has also been mentioned in the warning, as well as Mahi Basin in districts of Jhabua, Dhar, Ratlam.
GUJARAT
Dhulia, Narmada, Bharuch and parts of Vadodara districts, Panchmahal Mahisagar, Kheda, Mehsana and Ahmadabad Gandhinagar could be impacted.
UTTAR PRADESH
Hamirpur, Banda, Jalaun, Jhansi, Banda districts of Uttar Pradesh are likely to be impacted.
RAJASTHAN
In Rajasthan, the districts are Kota, Jhalawar, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Sirohi, Pali and Banswara.