The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : No cause for celebration

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 22, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

No cause for celebration

Staff Reporter

KURNOOL: Yeruvaka (arrival of floods) is an important festival for farmers and their partners in farm operations -- draught bulls. As a token of love for the animals, the bulls are given a bath, their horns painted and decorated with ornaments. The animals are given a feast. Some of the sweet dishes cooked for the family are also offered.

However, this year the dry river is going to disappoint both the villages on the Tungabhadra riverbank. The practice is to wash the animals in the rivers, canals or ponds. All water bodies are dry this year in many villages because of delayed monsoon.

Yeruvaka pournami which falls on June 22 is also celebrated to commemorate the arrival of floods in the river. But there is little flow in the river throughout its 100 km length. The flow into the reservoir of TB dam near Hospet itself is very poor.

The water availability in the TB dam reservoir was estimated at 2.013 tmcft while the inflow was estimated at 192 cusecs as against 17.990 tmcft with an inflow of 28,008 cusecs during the corresponding dates last year.

Poor rainfall was recorded this year in the catchment area of the river in Shimoga and other places of Karnataka. There was surplus water in the reservoir by August 14 last year and around 83,000 cusecs was let into the river.

Pilgrims at Mantralayam on the Tungabhadra river bank also faced serious water shortage this year. There was no water for pilgrims to take bath. Only two days ago, nominal flow of around 130 cusecs was recorded due to rain in the area.

Unless there is heavy flood, upper reaches of the TB dam, the reservoir might not touch surplus levels this season.

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