Three of the total 11 sluice gates of Bhadbhada Dam were opened upto 12 feet on Tuesday after the water level touched the Upper lake’s full capacity of 1,666.80 feet to release the excess water. The dam is the extended part of the lake region. Gate number 5, 6 and 7 were opened one by one, one sluice gate of Bhadbhada dam was opened by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to let the excess rainwater outflow into Kaliyasot reservoir.
After water level reached 1666.00 feet at around 12 noon, the officials of Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to open one gate and within minutes second and third gates were opened too. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh, Mayor Alok Sharma, Collector Nishanth Warwade and BMC Commissioner Chhavi Bhardwaj were present at the time of opening of Bhadbhada gates.
Bhopal residents looked enthusiastic about the opening of the Bhadbhada gate. To witness the spectacular view of the opening of the dam gates and water gushing through the gates with incredible force thousands of people reached the dam. Before the gate was opened, a warning siren was sounded to alert the residents downstream.
The gates were opened for the first time after three after years, official sources said. last time, it was in 2013, when Bhadbhada gates were opened six times during the monsoon period. Before, 2013, the gates were also opened in August 2012, when the water level in the Upper lake touched its full tank level for the first time since 2006. Prior to 2016, Upper lake had reached its full tank level in 2013, 2012, 2006, 2004 and 2002. last year in July, when the monsoon hit the state, the lake’s water level was 1,655 feet.
BMC assistant engineer (water) Rakesh Nigam talking about the level in Upper lake said the water level has increased due to heavy showers in the catchments area of the lake. “Three gates were opened and they will be kept open for few hours till the water level subside to some degree. The level came too close to the full tank level and it was raining heavily so we decided to open the gates. This was necessary as Bhopal is going through a flood like situation. ” he added.
"The PMO also did not elaborate what this third party is. They also didn't say if such letters were even exchanged or not," Dubey said.
This signals further delay in re-introduction of the lions.
"I don't see lions being re-introduced in the near future, there has been no such proposal with the Gujarat wildlife department either. When there is a legal battle between states, what can the Centre does," a senior official from Madhya Pradesh Wildlife department asked said.
Recently, Ravi Srivastava, then Chief Wildlife Warden of Madhya Pradesh in a letter to Roy P. Thomas, Joint Director (Wildlife), Union Environment Ministry, urged that execution of the apex court's order be kick-started.
"The flash-floods in Mareli Bhavnagar of Gujarat in July 2015 resulted in washing out of 10 Asiatic lions. This is what all the time scientists were referring to about occurrence of natural calamity," the letter procured by Dubey pointed out.