“It’s been over a month of living with nothing, ” Neelakka Modem, a tribe woman from the western Indian state associated with Maharashtra, says gloomily as rain trickles down her rickety plastic tent.
She and the girl family, along with seven hundred others, were forced to abandon their houses in Somanpalli town in Gadchiroli region after heavy rains in July brought on massive floods. They are camping along a national highway since.
“The professionals came in the middle of the night time and asked all of us to move to protection. We left along with nothing but the clothes we were wearing, ” Ms Modem, seventy, recalled.
Their state government has provided as well as water, but residing by the highway carries risks – racing vehicles, wild animals, which includes deadly snakes, are typical in this region which is home to dense exotic forests.
In the village, Ms Modem’s son Madhukar, a farm labourer, is trying to salvage what ever he can from their destroyed house. But Ms Modem wonders if they will ever go back.
“We cannot live there anymore – the place is definitely inhabitable. The government need to rehabilitate us somewhere else, ” she said.
Large rainfall is common during the monsoon in Gadchiroli district, which is surrounded by forests. Here, the Godavari water, the second longest in India, along with the tributaries, forms a flood-prone zone in between June and September. During those several weeks, if often overflows and enters the villages.
But residents say the flooding has become even worse in recent years.
Torrential rains this year between 11 July and nineteen July left a trail of devastation- at least 34 of the 52 towns and villages along the riverbank in Gadchiroli had been submerged for days, while three of them, including Somanpalli, were nearly wiped out as drinking water levels rose to their highest point within 35 years.
The rains have stopped now, but people are yet to return home or begin rebuilding their lives.
“I’ve never observed a flood such as this. This time, it has used everything, ” Ms Modem said.
ANI
Villagers and environmental experts say the heavy floods are caused by the release of water from the nearby dam in Medigadda – a village in the adjoining state of Telangana. But authorities have got denied the claim.
“The dam has no effect on the overflow situation in Gadchiroli and its neighbouring places. In fact , because of the construction of flood banking institutions, heavy damages might be avoided during the current floods, ” stated Dr Rajat Kumar, a senior standard in Telangana’s irrigation department.
Mr Kumar added that will irrigation officials in the state were “continuously coordinating” with their alternatives in Maharashtra within the situation.
The dam, known as Lakshmi Barrage, is located on the border between Maharashtra and Telangana. It was constructed in 2016 after the two declares signed a water-sharing agreement.
Since the inception, the project has been embroiled in controversies over the alleged violation of atmosphere laws – the claim denied simply by both state government authorities.
“People had opposed construction of the dam and there was protests, but the federal government of Maharashtra plus Telangana did not pay out any heed – now, we are struggling because of that, inch said Ranjit Gagapurwar, a local social activist.
He added that villagers who live on the banking institutions of the Godavari lake needed to be relocated completely because “it may flood every monsoon”.
Jitendra Shiktode, a government official in Maharashtra who may be in charge of Gadchiroli, stated: “We are trying hard to help the villagers. But it’s not achievable to relocate them so quickly. inch
Experts, nevertheless , say that the issue is not only about rehabilitation, yet about the management associated with hydro projects.
“Every dam is really a potential source of catastrophe. That’s the reality and another needs to be aware of it, ” says Himanshu Thakkar, an environment activist and water expert, who is furthermore the coordinator of South Asia Network on Dams, Streams and People (SANDRP).
“It’s not just that the particular dam could crack, but also if it is not operated properly, it might lead to floods. inch
On 8 August, India’s ministry associated with water resources had acknowledged that “faulty operations of reservoirs might sometimes result in water damage of downstream regions. ”
Mister Thakkar explained exactly how this could happen: “India has concentrated rainfall in three-four months of monsoon. So if a dam is usually filled right at the beginning of the season and it down pours further, authorities finish up releasing water from your dam while the region downstream is already flooded, worsening the situation. ”
One of the things to make sure proper operation of dams is a “rule curve” or a chart that shows when and how a dam is to be filled slowly through the season.
This graph, Mister Thakkar explained, must be designed considering the siltation and carrying capacity of the downstream lake, or the tide timings, if the dam will be close to the coast.
Besides, government bodies also need to regularly update the curve to accommodate changes in rain fall patterns. “Increasingly we are witnessing late monsoons. So we need to replace the rules accordingly, ” he said.
This is extremely important intended for regions like South Asia, where severe weather events like floods are expected to get more frequent among rising temperatures, based on a 2022 review by the Intergovernmental Cell on Climate Modify (IPCC).
In Somanpalli, water ranges have reduced. Yet villagers are still living by the highway.
They fear one more deluge since the monsoon is not over yet.
“What’s the purpose in going back? We now have lost everything, ” Ms Modem said.
Additional confirming by Sumit Pakalwar in Telangana
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10 August 2021
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