Jog Falls roars in full glory

• Linganamakki reservoir water level dangerously close to the reservoir limit; 9 of the 11 gates opened
• Bhadra and Tunga dam’s water level dangerously close to the maxmum level

Sagara: Owing to the heavy rains in the state and the subsequent discharge of water from the Linganamakki reservoir, India’s tallest waterfall, Jog Falls, was in full flow on Tuesday August 14^th.

In spite of the heavy rains as tourists and residents sought to catch a glimpse of the waterfall in all its glory, located downstream of the reservoir where the Sharavathi river takes a plunge from a height of about 830 feet. The waterfalls have four distinct falls, named Raja, Rocket, Roarer and Rani.

After the water level was reported at 1815 feet, dangerously close to the reservoir limit of 1819 feet, the authorities opened nine of the eleven gates of the Linganamakki reservoir. the dam has reached full level on only 13 occasions since the construction of the reservoir in 1964 and the last time this happened was four years ago in 2014.

On Tuesday, visitors thronged the viewpoint, built at the bottom of the hill opposite to the falls and images of the falls in full flow were widely shared on social media.

During this monsoon season, Bhadra dam where the water level was reported to be at 184 feet, dangerously close to the maximum limit of 186 feet, and the Thunga dam, which was reportedly at its maximum limit of 588.24 feet, have also attracted visitors.

In the last two days, an average of 104.2 mm rain was reported in Shivamogga district. Neighboring district Udupi received 184 mm average rainfall with few places including Kundapura receiving over 223 mm of rainfall. The heavy rainfall is expected to continue for two more days in the coastal and malnad regions of the state according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).