The Lal Bahadur Shastri Sagar (Almatti dam), the lifeline of several north Karnataka districts, including undivided Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Raichur, has reached its full reservoir level (519.60 metre) for the first time, this monsoon, despite a delayed inflow.
The reservoir, which saw its first inflow on July 12, reached the FRL on Wednesday (Aug 16). In July last week, the reservoir had clocked 1.50 lakh cusec inflow for a couple of days. The dam was almost full in July then, but a prolonged dry spell in August made sure it crawled to its FRL in August third week.
The current storage in the reservoir stands at 123.081 tmcft, which is sufficient to meet the water needs of basin districts. Water release to canals started on July 27 and will continue till November 23. If the dam clocks inflows till November first week, water will be released for rabi crops too. But as things stand, it looks improbable.
Meanwhile, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government has reconstituted the Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) of Upper Krishna Project. Bagalkot district minister R B Thimmapur has been appointed as chairman. All elected representatives - ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs - and the deputy commissioners and Agri department officers of the basin districts are its members.
Besides, seven officers, including zonal chief engineers and CADA officials, are appointed as officer-members, stated the order issued by S Vijaylakshmi, additional secretary water resources department.
According to the order, eight non-official members will also be appointed to UKP-ICC soon. The newly constituted ICC of Krishna basin is expected to hold a meeting on the water release on Aug 21, said Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited sources.
Published 17 August 2023, 00:54 IST