The Hindu : Front Page : Kabini dam gates opened; outflow 20,000 cusecs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 07, 2005

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Kabini dam gates opened; outflow 20,000 cusecs

Special Correspondent

MYSORE: Low-lying areas along the banks of the Kabini river in parts of Mysore district have been inundated after the crest gates of the Kabini reservoir at H.D. Kote were opened due to a rapid rise in the reservoir level. This follows good rainfall in the catchment area of the river in Wyanad in Kerala.

The water level on Wednesday was 2,280.08 ft as against the full reservoir level of 2,284 ft, and the inflow was 17,374 cusecs. The authorities said the inflow into the reservoir is expected to be steady on account of heavy rain in the catchment area.

The outflow from the reservoir was 15,465 cusecs on Wednesday morning and this increased to 20,000 cusecs in the evening. Sources said the outflow from the reservoir is likely to be increased further. Normally, the crest gates are opened when the water level exceeds the 2,280-ft mark. People living in the low-lying areas along the riverbank have been asked to move to higher ground.

The inflow into the Krishna Raja Sagar has been subsiding and there was no appreciable increase in the inflow, which declined from 13,917 cusecs on Tuesday to 10,410 cusecs on Wednesday.

Jayalalithaa's request

Special Correspondent reports from Chennai:

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, on Wednesday requested the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to order the immediate release of Cauvery waters from reservoirs in Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.

This would enable the State to open the Mettur dam and provide water for agricultural operations, Ms. Jayalalithaa said in a demi-official letter addressed to Dr. Singh.

As on July 5, the Mettur dam realised 2.9 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water against the prescribed quantity of 17.796 tmcft as per the interim award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, she said. In view of the copious rainfall in the catchment of the Cauvery in Karnataka, the inflow into the reservoirs is steadily rising. The combined storage of the four major reservoirs is 49.094 tmcft, she said.

She recalled the discussion she had with him in New Delhi during the National Development Council meeting on June 27 on the issue of water release from Karnataka. She also urged Dr. Singh to arrange for making good the shortfall in the realisation of water and ensuring further releases as per the order of the tribunal.

Officials here said the water released from Kabini on Sunday is likely to reach the Mettur reservoir only by Friday. From that day onwards, there would be a steady increase of storage as long as there was heavy discharge from Kabini. On Wednesday, the storage at the Mettur reservoir was about 19 tmcft with an inflow of 140 cusecs.

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