Monsoon delay dries up Cauvery reservoirs

With monsoons failing to set in so far in the Cauvery and Kabini catch-ment areas, reservoirs in the Cauvery region have more or less dried up.

The water level in the major reservoir of Krishn-arajasagar stood (KRS) at 72.55 feet today, with inflow down to a ‘trickle’ of 547 cusecs as against the general inflow of 10,000-15,000 cusecs during the monsoons. If the dead storage is taken into consideration, there is very little water available for irrigation and supply of drinking water has already been affected in Mysore to some extent. The maximum level of KRS is 124.80 feet.

Mysore city is already facing hardships in getting adequate drinking water. The pressure of water released for drinking purposes has already fallen. Some areas are already suffering for want of water.

The main catchment area, Kodagu, where the Cauvery takes birth at Talacauvery, has failed to see the monsoon rains so far. Similar is the case in the Kabini catchment area too.

The water level in the Kabini reservoir stood at 2,265.06 feet with an inflow of 1,139 cusecs. Generally, Kabini receives a higher inflow than KRS during this season, which helps Karnataka meet its obligation to Tamil Nadu. Last year, inflow had risen steeply and then had taken a break around this time. Now, it has not seen any cognizable inflow at all. The maximum storage capacity of Kabini is 2,284 feet.

Similar is the situation in the two other reservoirs, Harangi in Kodagu district and Hemavathi in Hassan district.