The fall in water level in the reservoirs continues and now, there is water left for just over 40 days at the Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir, recording a live storage of 1.805 tmc feet (thousand million cubic feet) above sill level as on Monday.
Water from KRS is mainly supplied to Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and Ramanagara.
According to officials from the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), the said level in the reservoir is just enough for 51 days and with evaporation and transmission losses, water could be supplied to the City for the next 40 days only.
Officials from Cauvery Neeravari Nigama (CNN), Water Resources department and BWSSB recently met to discuss bringing water from Hemavathi reservoir to KRS to avoid further water crisis in the City. Water from the Hemavathi reservoir mainly caters to Hassan district and surrounding areas.
The level at Hemavathi reservoir stands at 3.658 tmc feet live storage above sill level as on Monday, which has more water compared to other reservoirs. The reservoir level at Harangi recorded 0.739 tmc feet live storage above sill level and Kabini recorded zero tmc feet. This is for the first time that Bangalore is desperately waiting for rain in the catchment areas of the reservoirs.
A senior official from CNN says that in his service, this is the worst situation he has seen. The official said that there is nearly 47 per cent less storage in KRS compared to the average level recorded in recent years.
He agreed said that there is definitely a crisis and that CNN is monitoring the water levels on an hourly basis.
On April 24, the level had dropped to 42 inches below the minimum level at the Shiva Balancing Reservoir, from where the water gets supplied to various pumping stations and then to the City.
A BWSSB official said, since water is not released regularly by CNN, certain pumping motors are switched off. However, CNN officials, in their defence, said they have to release water judiciously since there is a grave crisis.