Stating this at an impromptu news conference here on Thursday, Minister for Narmada Development and Major Irrigation Projects Jay Narayan Vyas said, ``The worst seems to be over. The intensity of the rains in the Ukai dam catchment areas have lessened, thus allowing us to cut down on the discharge of water from the reservoir''.

The minister said the satellite pictures taken by the meteriological department clearly showed that the low depression -- which had formed over Indore in Madhya Pradesh yesterday -- had moved towards Deesa in Banaskantha today. ``This has apparently reduced the possibility of rainfall in the catchment areas of the Ukai dam'', he said.

The water level in the Ukai reservoir was 345.25 feet at 1 p.m. on Thursday, down from 346.4 feet earlier in the day. The maximum capacity of the reservoir is 345 feet. In 1994, the water level in the reservoir had reached 345.77 feet following torrential rains in the dam's catchment areas, he said.

Responding to a query, Vyas said that this time, the inflow of about 9.5 lakh cusecs of water into the Ukai reservoir was recorded against the inflow of 8.5 lakh cusecs of water in 1994.

Despite the increased inflow, the dam officials on duty acted judiciously and released the surplus water from the reservoir in installments to minimise the damage to private as well as public property in and around Surat, he claimed.

``Taking a leaf from repeated spells of flash floods, the irrigation department has now decided to computerise the relevant functioning of the flood control management, which will help us calculate and regulate the outflow faster and more accurately'', Vyas announced at the news conference, adding that ``vigil on flood controlling has been intensified''.