Officials confident of weathering crisis till monsoon showers arrive
Staff Correspondent:
The light showers over the past few days in southern Karnataka has done little to stop the water level at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir from dipping even further.
The water level in the reservoir dipped to 74.17 ft at 6 a.m. on Monday and then to 73.95 ft in the evening.
For the first time in the year, the levels have dipped below the Minimum Drawdown Level (MDDL), which signifies the minimum water needed for power generation and irrigation of 74 feet. The reservoir had 80.87 ft of water on April 17 last year.
However, with more than 14 ft of water — or around 4.04 thousand million cubic feet of water — left until ‘dead storage’ is reached, officials are confident of weathering the crisis until the monsoon showers hit the region in June.
‘Enough water’
“MDDL is only a marker and will not affect drinking water supply. Below this line, water will not flow into irrigation canals. There is enough water left to provide for Bengaluru and other towns,” said B. Shivashankar, Managing Director, Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd.
Officials said with Bengaluru needing 1.5 TMC of water till June, and Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagaram and other places also needing water, it is a touch-and-go situation till the reservoir levels rise.
