Several areas of the district, as well as half-a-dozen villages of Vadodara district are expected to go under water tomorrow.

Talking to Express Newsline, Bharuch District Collector B B Swain said the river would touch a height of 33 feet on Tuesday. All preventive arrangements were already in place, he added.

Around 1,500 people and 2,700 animals had been shifted to safer places so far from about a dozen places in Jhagadia, Ankleshwar and Bharuch, he said, adding that there was no likelihood of further evacuations. ``Parts of some city localities, including Bamaniawad, Golden Bridge slums, Bahucharaji, Nikorapet and Jaorapet, are also under water. Boats have been pressed into service wherever required'', he added.

While assuring that no village was going to be marooned by the rising waters, Swain said further steps would depend on the rainfall at Hoshangabad. Heavy rains here necessitated the release of three lakh cusecs of water on Monday, triggering the fear of floods.

In Vadodara, the local flood control room and the officials deployed at Dabhoi taluka, said the Narmada had begun to rise in parts of Dabhoi, Karjan and Shinor talukas. A few villages in the three talukas of Chandod, Pura, Mandwa and Malsar could also be partially submerged or cut off altogether, they said.

Officials said in view of the situation, some families living in the low-lying areas of the villages could be evacuated by Tuesday. ``They will be moved to the higher parts of the same villages'', they added.

Another official from Chandod -- where all the 109 steps of the Narmada Ma temple went under water on Sunday -- said that at least five police personnel and as many collectorate officials had been deployed for round-the-clock duty to keep a watch on devotees who came to immerse Ganesha idols in the Narmada.

He said that if the river swelled further, low-lying roads and bridges connecting certain villages could be submerged. ``At least a dozen motorboats have been kept on the stand-by at Chandod to supply provisions and other medical facilities if the need arises'', he added.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra police on Sunday evening released 135 people, including Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, who were arrested a couple of days ago from Pipalchop and other villages after water levels rose in the area.

Talking to Express Newsline, Nandini Oza of the NBA said that Patkar and the others had since returned to Domkhedi, Maharashtra. She claimed the water level in Domkhedi was around waist-high on Monday afternoon.

Villagers of Nimad took out a rally in Madhya Pradesh in support of the movement. They have been on a relay fast for the last two days.

Oza said representatives of various non-government organisations, including the National Alliance for People's Rights, called on President K R Narayanan requesting him to review the Sardar Sarovar Project. They also criticised what they described as atrocities on the tribals.