In order to address the water scarcity in Tumakuru, the state government on Monday decided to release 2 tmcft water to the parched district from the Hemavathi reservoir in the next 15 days.
The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, on water availability in the Cauvery command area of the state.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said that water should be released within the ambit of the law and in accordance with the allocation by Cauvery Water Management
Authority.
Earlier in the meeting, MLAs of the Tumakuru region had highlighted the water problems in the district owing to a poor
monsoon.
Shivakumar said that a significant amount of water was getting wasted due to leaks in a 100-km canal in the region. “Water is not reaching places like Tumakuru, Kunigal, and Nagamangala. Canal upgrade works will be taken up to prevent water loss,” he
added.
To a question, the minister pointed out that the decision on water sharing did not rest with the state government, but with the Centre. Farmers of the state need to understand this, he added.
When asked about the allegations that water was not being released to Tumakuru from Gorur dam in Hassan district, PWD minister H D Revanna dismissed the accusation as ‘baseless’.
“We have released 23 tmcft water till date and the remaining 2 tmcft water will be released soon. But we are not responsible if the problem continues in the coming days,” he
added.
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