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Gujarat: In a first, incessant rains force open Narmada gates

Heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh and catchment areas of Narmada necessitated the opening of 26 of the 30 newly installed gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Friday.

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View of Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam after the gates were opened for the first time post-installation in 2017
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Heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh and catchment areas of Narmada necessitated the opening of 26 of the 30 newly installed gates of the Sardar Sarovar Dam on Friday.

This is the first time that the gates are being opened after they were installed in 2017 to allow for release of excess water so as to maintain the water level at 131.18 metre.

The dam has a storage capacity of 139 metre but as per the Narmada Control Authority, water in the dam can be filled only up to 131.18 metre.

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, chief secretary JN Singh and several other top officials visited the dam after the gates were opened.

Rupani told reporters that good rains will allow the authorities to divert Narmada waters to other regions of the state through the canal network.

The release of water also led to the River Bed Power house with a capacity to generate 1200 MW of electricity becoming operational after a gap of two years.

Raging Waters

26 of 30 sluices opened to keep water at 131.18m
This is the first time that the gates are being opened since installation in 2017 
Dam has a storage capacity of 139m but water can be filled only upto 131.18m
Release resulted in alert being sounded in three districts of Narmada, Bharuch and Vadodara
Many bridges over Narmada blocked off 

The release also resulted in an alert being sounded particularly for the three districts of Narmada, Bharuch and Vadodara. The state also cordoned off several bridges over the river to avoid any untoward incident.

Heavy rains, particularly in south of the state including in Vadodara, resulted in three trains being halted as water level rose up to the track level. The railways also informed that all train movements along the Delhi route from Vadodara had been suspended after water level at Godhra railway station reached above 50mm. The administration urged citizens not to believe rumours of Ajwa dam gates opening.

In all 168 talukas in the state received rain with Chhota Udepur recording 13 inches of rain. Mahuda in Kheda recorded 11 inches each.


(A labourer rests in a drainage pipe as it rains in Ahmedabad on Friday - REUTERS)

The state has 18 NDRF and 11 SDRF teams on standby for potential flooding.

Heavy to very heavy rains with some spells of extremely heavy rains have been predicted for Anand, Vadodara, Kheda and Bharuch.

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