Dams close to dead storage level

Mumbai-Ktaka

The delay in the arrival of the monsoon rains has severely affected the water stored in Hidkal dam across River Ghataprabha. On Wednesday, the water level in the dam was 107.55 feet, lower than compared to that of the previous year, and the inflow of water to the dam is zero, as against the inflow of 18,910 cusecs, last year.

The situation is getting grimmer by the each passing day, and the live storage is affected due to evaporation. With neither South Maharashtra, nor catchments of Ghataprabha receiving rain, the river-bed has dried up.

The water levels on Wednesday were 2,067.45 feet, against the maximum capacity of 2,175 feet. Last year, on the same day, the water level in the dam was 2,104.2 feet. The district has received 108.1 mm average excess rainfall, when compared to that of June last year.

The Malaprabha and Hidkal dams of the district have gone dry owing to lack of adequate rainfall. Vast areas of land have also dried up. If the situation persists, people in the area will face drinking water problem. Both dams now have only one TMC of water each.

While there is a small amount of inflow for the Malaprabha, the Ghataprabha gets no inflow.

In Hospet, the water level in Tungabhadra dam has gone down considerably. The dam has eight TMC water, while the dam had 29 TMC water at this time, last year. The water level has gone down by 11 ft.