KRS, Hemavathi, Kabini reservoirs reach the brim

With the regions under the Cauvery basin receiving rainfall over the past few days, all the three dams under the basin — Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS), Hemavathi and Kabini — have reached the brim and the crest gates of all of the dams have been opened, increasing the flow in the rivers.

The authorities of the KRS dam in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district opened the crest gates at 1.20 pm as the water level was inching to the maximum.

The water level stood at 123 feet (ft) against its maximum level of 124.80 ft on Saturday afternoon.

According to the authorities, the dam was receiving nearly 40,000 cusecs water and thus the gates were opened.

With the gates open, 20,000 cusecs water was being released to Cauvery river.

At present, the dam has a storage of 42.17 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) water against its full capacity of 45.051 tmcft. Following the release of a large volume of water into the river, boating at Ranganathittu has been suspended until further notice.

The six gates of Hemavathi reservoir in Gorur of Hassan district were opened in the afternoon as the water level reached the brim (2,922 ft). Public Works Department (PWD) Minister H D Revanna offered puja at the dam before the crest gates were opened.

As Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district and Mudigere taluk in Chikkmagaluru district have been receiving heavy rain for the past few days, the inflow was high. The inflow was 24,743 cusecs and outflow was 3,870 cusecs on Saturday morning.

This time, the water level reached the full reservoir level (FRL) in a record time. Earlier, the water level had reached its brim on July 26, 2013.
An official said that as the catchment areas have been receiving good rainfall, the dam has been receiving a large volume of water. The district administration has taken all necessary precautionary measures before opening the gates. The people living on the banks of the river were shifted to safer places.

Kabini dam in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district, which has a total capacity of 2,284 ft, touched 2,282 ft. The inflow and outflow were 40,000 cusecs respectively on Saturday. The four gates of the reservoir were kept open for a few days. Following the heavy inflow,a flood alert has been issued and people are advised to be cautious while venturing on to the river banks.