Rain pushes up reservoir levels in Karnataka, but still not enough to release to TN 

BENGALURU: Rainfall over the past few days has brought some succour to Karnataka, and pushed up water levels in dams, but the situation is far from comfortable. Farmers are agitated with the Cauvery Water Management Authority’s earlier direction to the state to continue to release 5,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu.

As on Tuesday evening, water storage levels were as follows: Harangi dam — 7.762 tmcft, Hemavathi — 16.003 tmcft, KRS — 16.191 tmcft, and Kabini — 11.067 tmcft, adding up to a total storage of 51.023 tmcft. About 12,000 cusecs of water flowed into the reservoirs because of good rain on Tuesday.

Water experts say the situation is still unpredictable, and that this time last year, the water level in dams was at a comfortable 102 tmcft. Legal experts, however, state that water share between the two states has been given on a 50 per cent dependability basis, which postulates that for every year of surplus, there could be a year of drought, so there is no need to feel agitated.

Kannada Horatagararu and farmers are aghast that water is being released without heeding the woes of farmers. Farmer leader Kurubur Shantakumar said, “The Cauvery water regulatory authorities need to be more objective, or they should be done away with.’’ “Bengaluru and the Cauvery basin cities need about 33 tmcft of water for drinking water needs,” say urban experts. Erratic monsoons over the past many years have led experts to peg the water year at July 31, instead of May 31, as drinking water needs cannot be compromised. Assuming that the monsoon arrives on June 1, there should be enough drinking water till July 31.

At the present storage level, if a small quantity is released for irrigation, it can be done only till mid-October. The rain deficit has led to a huge fall in rain yield. Asked if the Mekedatu dam project will help resolve the water scarcity issue, experts say such projects can mitigate the situation to some extent