In photos: The long-lasting effects of the great Maharashtrian deluge of 2019
August’s flooding in Sangli and Kolhapur districts of Maharashtra have been historic. River levels washed away all past records many times over. New high flood levels were reached several times at multiple places both in Sangli and Kolhapur. These districts, which form the fertile Black cotton soil belt of Maharashtra, are the floodplains of mighty rivers of the Krishna Basin: Krishna, Koyna, Warna, Panchaganga, Tarli, Urmodi, Dudhganga and Hiranyakeshi.
On August 8, Krishna breached its Highest Flood Level at two places in Maharashtra – Kurundwad and Arjunwad. On the same day, Warna and Panchaganga too crossed their Highest Flood Levels at two places – Samdoli and Terwad in Kolhapur.
While part of the reason of the deluge was incessant rainfall, flood impacts multiplied and were made stark by simultaneous release from massive reservoirs like Koyna, Warna and Radhanagari in the upstream and filling up Upper Krishna or Almatti Dam in the downstream Karnataka.
Slowly, villages and towns have been limping back to normalcy. The destruction wrought by the floods has been momentous. Just in the two districts of Sangli and Kolhapur, more than 6.45 lakh people were evacuated and shifted to safer places. More than 30 people died in flood-related incidents in just that week in five districts of Western Maharashtra....
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