All 33 gates of the Gosikhurd dam in India have been opened, unleashing a colossal 13,000 cubic meters of water per second into the Wainganga River and putting downstream districts on high alert for catastrophic flooding.
Key Points:
- All 33 gates of the massive Gosikhurd dam in Bhandara, India, have been opened following relentless heavy rains in the region.
- A colossal 13,000 cubic meters of water per second—a volume that could fill five Olympic swimming pools every second—is being discharged into the Wainganga River.
- The situation escalated dramatically in just 48 hours, from a precautionary release from nine gates on Monday to a full-scale discharge by Wednesday.
- Downstream districts of Bhandara and Gadchiroli are on high alert as the river swells, evoking memories of devastating dam-induced floods in 2020 that impacted 55,000 people.
BHANDARA, INDIA – A torrent of biblical proportions has been unleashed in India’s Vidarbha region. The state’s largest irrigation project, the Gosikhurd dam, has been forced to open every single one of its 33 colossal floodgates, loosing a staggering 13,000 cubic meters of churning, brown water per second into the Wainganga River. It is a decision born of necessity, a desperate bid to manage the immense pressure from days of punishing monsoon rains. But downstream, for tens of thousands of people in the districts of Bhandara and Gadchiroli, it is a roaring threat, a wall of water now thundering towards their homes and farms.
The scene at the dam itself is one of awesome and terrifying power. What is normally a placid reservoir has become a man-made Niagara Falls, a violent spectacle of nature’s fury being channeled through concrete. This is not a drill. It is a full-blown water crisis unfolding in real-time, placing an entire region on a knife’s edge as they watch and wait for the river to break its banks.
From Trickle to Torrent: A 48-Hour Escalation
The speed with which this crisis erupted is a stark reminder of the monsoon’s unforgiving power. As recently as Monday, the situation appeared to be under control. With water levels rising steadily, authorities took what seemed like a prudent, precautionary measure: they opened nine of the dam’s 33 gates. This released just over 1,100 cubic meters of water per second (cumecs)—a significant amount, but manageable.
But the rain did not stop. It battered the region relentlessly, swelling the rivers and tributaries that feed the Gosikhurd reservoir. The inflow of water quickly began to outpace the managed outflow. By Wednesday, the choice was no longer about precaution; it was about preventing a catastrophic failure of the dam itself. The order was given to open them all. All 33 gates, each one a massive slab of steel and concrete measuring over 18 by 16 meters, were lifted.
In less than 48 hours, the discharge rate skyrocketed by more than tenfold, from 1,100 to a mind-boggling 13,000 cumecs. This wasn’t a gradual increase; it was a floodgate in the most literal sense being thrown open. The Wainganga River, the lifeline for this region, was instantly transformed into an angry, swollen beast, its waters rising rapidly and threatening to consume everything in its path.
The Swelling Wainganga and the Ghost of Floods Past
For the residents of Bhandara and Gadchiroli, this is a terrifyingly familiar scenario. They live with the memory of the devastating floods of the 2020 monsoon season, a disaster that was intrinsically linked to water management at this very dam. In that year, the Wainganga breached its banks, inundating villages and farmland and directly impacting an estimated 55,000 people. The images of submerged homes and desperate evacuations are seared into the local consciousness.
Now, with a far greater volume of water being released, that ghost of 2020 looms large. Reports are already coming in of the Wainganga swelling ominously, with low-lying areas and vulnerable ‘pockets’ across both districts on the highest alert. Every inch the river rises is being watched with bated breath. This is a critical test of the region’s disaster preparedness and of the governance frameworks like the Dam Safety Act of 2021, which were put in place to better manage such events.
The dam, conceived as a boon for irrigation and development, has once again become a source of immense anxiety. Its ability to hold back the monsoon’s fury is a double-edged sword; when the pressure becomes too great, its release of that fury is concentrated and potentially devastating for those who live in its shadow.
As the massive volume of water makes its inexorable journey downstream, the fate of thousands hangs in the balance. Authorities are in a desperate race against time to warn and evacuate residents in at-risk areas. But for the farmers whose fields are in the river’s path and the families whose homes line its banks, there is little to do but watch the sky, watch the rising water, and pray that the ghost of 2020 does not return with a vengeance.