Pune, Jul 6 (PTI) The Met department has issued a red alert indicating heavy to extremely heavy rains for Pune, Satara and Kolhapur districts in western Maharashtra over the next three days even as the Panchganga river level in Kolhapur rose and is seven feet short of the warning mark as of Wednesday night, officials said.
Officials fear that if the rain continues overnight, the water level of the Panchganga and other rives will reach the warning mark (39 feet) by Thursday morning.
Two teams of NDRF have already been stationed in flood-prone Shirol tehsil and Kolhapur city.
Satara and Kolhapur districts are experiencing heavy rainfall, prompting the district administration in Kolhapur to take preemptive measures to tackle any flood situation in the district, which was battered by floods in 2019 and 2021.
Due to heavy rains, the water level of the Panchganga river at the Rajaram weir in Kolhapur reached 32 feet at 8 pm on Wednesday, seven feet below the waning mark and 11 feet below the danger threshold.
The red alert is valid from July 6 to 8 for the Satara district and from July 7 to 9 for the Kolhapur district.
“During this period, the respective regions will witness extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in ghat areas. For Pune, a red alert has been issued for July 7 and July 8,” India Meteorological Department officials said.
According to district officials, if rains continue to lash the Kolhapur district, the water level of Panchganga, Doodhganga, Warna, Hiranykeshi, Ghatprabha and Vedganga rivers will reach the warning level by July 7 morning.
The administration has cautioned the citizens to follow the instructions given by authorities.
Pravin Darade, the guardian secretary of the Kolhapur district, has directed officials to coordinate with the Karnataka government over the issue of the discharge of water from the Almatti dam to avoid any flood-like situation.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde spoke to Kolhapur district collector Rahul Rekhawar in view of the IMD’s warning, officials said. PTI SPK NSK NSK
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