JOIN USWith the receding monsoon and the Indian Meteorological Department predicting that there will be ‘no more rains’ in the state in the next few months, Karnataka is staring at its worst water crisis in over four decades. The situation is so grim that in order to making contingency plans to ensure enough water for drinking purposes, the state government has decided to stop water supply for farming in the Cauvery basin from August 31 to September 10 and take a call on a future course of action after assessing the situation. As against the requirement of 15 tmcft of water to Bengaluru and other urban centres in the Cauvery basin till next summer, the Krishna Raja Sagar dam (KRS) which is the main source of supply, has only 12 tmcft of usable water, opening the possibility of staggered distribution till the situation improves. When Karnataka is faced with such an acute shortage, it is ironical that neighbouring Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court seeking 50 tmcft of Cauvery water in accordance with the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s award “to irrigate its farmlands.” Tamil Nadu’s Shylockian approach once again exposes the irrationality of the Tribunal’s dictation of weekly releases of water and the need for the apex court to hand out a distress formula for both states to follow in times of drought.
The situation is equally alarming in the rest of the state as nine out of 11 major reservoirs have below 40% storage. The farmers of Tungabhadra basin have also been told to expect only a curtailed supply of water. The failed monsoon will also severely impact the generation of electricity as Karnataka is heavily dependent on hydel power and contingency plans are afoot to purchase power from outside the state. The low storage had resulted in a loss of Rs 2,500 crore to the state power distribution companies last year, and they have to brace themselves to a tougher challenge in the months ahead.
At least now, the political leadership of Karnataka should awaken to the grave dangers of unfettered destruction of the pristine forests and ecosystems of the Western Ghats which act as a catchment region for two major rivers, Cauvery and Sharavathi. Scientists of the Indian Institute of Science, who have done a detailed study, have pointed out that the region has lost as much as 21% of the natural forests in the last four decades and it has a direct bearing on the declining rainfall. Further alarmed at the government’s proposal to hand over 70,000 acres of forests in Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts for monoculture plantations like teak, acacia and eucalyptus, they have warned that it could be disastrous to the state. In plain language: not withdrawing the plan to destroy more forests would be myopic and anti-state.