How did Godavari flood twice despite delayed monsoon?

Several questions are being raised fter the Godavari river flooded twice – on July 10 and on June 2 – even when the monsoon had been delayed.

Till June end, the monsoon had not reached the Nashik district and the dam was nearing dead stock. Godavari river was running dry with not an extra drop of water. The picture changed when Nashik saw heavy rainfall, to the tune of 356 mm in two days, on July 9 and 10.

It was then that for the first time the river flooded, submerging the Ramsetu bridge, even without any discharge from the Gangapur dam. On August 1 and 2, heavy rainfall in the district, particularly in the Gangapur dam catchment area, as well as discharge from the dam, led to one of the most aggressive floods in Nashik on August 2.

It is true that this year, Nashik has witnessed unprecedented rainfall. Even then, many are questioning how the river flooded twice? Reportedly, the Gangapur dam through which Godavari flows has a reduced capacity due to silting. Till now, few efforts have been made to desilt the dam.

In addition, the recently constructed roads in Nashik have wall-to-wall concrete with no space for water to seep into the ground. This has led to very heavy water logging all over the city. During the flooding, rain water entered many homes and shops on the ground floor in the district.

Besides, the river stream was concretised and lifted to make it shallow during the 2002 Kumbh mela. The gradient of the approaches leading to the river all through the city were also reduced. Layers of tar to make roads have reduced the depth by about 3-4 feet in the last 50 years.

As as result, a sizeable amount of water from the river enters the city lanes easily.

On August 2, people caused a traffic jam by making a beeline for the river to see the flood. Police tried to control the traffic but people took small lanes and no-entry ways to reach the river.

In fact, whatsapp was put to an extremely irresponsible use by people when they recirculated old messages, and many rumours started making rounds, spreading panic among people.

After the flood, the entire area was full of filth, garbage and slush. The filth should have been removed on a war footing but the Nashik municipal corporation took a lot of time to clear it. Limited manpower and a huge amount of garbage in the city was blamed for this. As a result, even seven days after the floods, parts of the city were being cleaned.

The Nashik municipal corporation has four rubber boats and two fiber boats. One was sent to Kopargaon while others helped evacuate 228 people to safety during the floods. The corporation's disaster management team, however, appeared to be working with limitations.

Considering that climate change is being experienced every where, some planning for the city, its river and people is the need of the hour.