Karnataka   

Cauvery basin reservoir water levels up

Staff Correspondent

Rain in catchment areas has improved the situation

MYSORE: Water levels in the four major reservoirs of the Cauvery basin have risen following moderate to heavy downpour in their catchment areas in the last few days.

The level at Krishnaraja Sagar dam, which is the major source of drinking water for Mysore and Bangalore, has risen by over 17 ft in four days. The dam’s level on Saturday was 67 ft against the maximum of 124.80 ft.

Thanks to the active south-west monsoon and the depression in the Bay of Bengal, the catchment areas received incessant rain thereby improving the reservoir levels, which had declined considerably.

Though the intensity of rainfall has decreased since Monday, the inflow into KRS dam and Kabini dam in H.D. Kote taluk have not completely reduced since there have been moderate showers in Kodagu district and Wayanad in Kerala, which are the catchment areas for the two dams respectively.

Sources in the Command Area Development Authority (CADA) told The Hindu that the level of KRS dam had gone up by over 17 ft in a span of four days. The level on Tuesday stood at 84 ft. The inflow was 20,585 cusecs and the outflow 29 5 cusecs.

The level in Kabini dam, which is the first reservoir in the State that attains full level immediately after the monsoon sets in, was 2,268.04 ft against the maximum of 2,284 ft. The inflow on Tuesday was 11,670 cusecs and the outflow 1,333 cusecs.

The sources said that it was for the first time in recent years that the dam had not reached its full reservoir level (FRL) during the beginning of June.

Normally, when the south-west monsoon arrives, the dam attains FRL during the first or second week of June since the first rain hits Kerala, and its catchment area was in Wayanad.

“In all probability, the dam will attain FRL in another week if the same inflow continues for the next few days,” they said.

The levels of Harangi dam in Kodagu district and Hemavathy dam in Hassan district have also risen, though not substantially.

The inflow on Tuesday at Harangi was 1,807 cusecs and the outflow was nil. The level stood at 2,821.38 ft on Tuesday. The Hemavathy dam’s level was 2,976.87 ft on Tuesday and the inflow was 2,885 cusecs. The outflow was 200 cusecs.

The sharp fall in the water level of KRS reservoir had become a cause for concern since the dam meets the drinking water requirements of Mysore, Bangalore and Mandya.

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