The water levels in all major reservoirs have come down drastically thanks to a weak monsoon in most parts of the State.

According to a report from the Drought Monitoring Cell for the period from June 11 to 17, the levels at Linganamakki, KRS, Kabini, Hemavathi, Bhadra, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha dams are lower than the average for the the past 10 years.

The level at the KRS reservoir is lower than the minimum level recorded since 1995. The rainfall figures for the same period indicate that the State received 37 mm against a normal rainfall of 44 mm. “The rainfall was deficient to scanty in 73 taluks of 11 districts,” the report states.

According to Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation sources, the live capacity of three major reservoirs as on June 21 was as follows: Linganamakki -  1,748.15 ft (1,766.6 ft on same day last year), Supa - 1,731.84 ft (1,765.5 ft) and Mani - 1,890 ft (1,897.8 ft).

The live storage capacity, in terms of percentage, for Linganamakki is 11.66 per cent (23.29 per cent on the same day last year), for Supa it is 22.62 per cent (34.30) and for Mani 20.54 (27.36).

The total availability of energy from the three reservoirs as on June 21 is reported to be 1,417 million units as against 2,407 million units on the same day in 2006.

Slight improvement

However, over the past few days, there has been a slight improvement in the reservoir levels because of rains in the catchment areas.

While the inflow is said to be 2,599 cusec in Linganamakki, in Supa it is 346 cusec and in Mani 483 cusec.
The KPTCL sources point out that the power consumption recorded on June 21 was 100.6 MUs. Similarly on June 20 and 19, the consumption was 103 and 107 MUs respectively, they add.