KRS, Kabini levels can meet summer demand

There will be no scarcity of drinking water in Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mandya regions as the Krishnaraja Sagar and Kabini dams have sufficient water, according to officials.

The water level at the KRS Dam in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district was 96.66 feet on Monday against the maximum level of 124.80 feet. Last year, on the corresponding day, the water level was 80.19 feet. On Monday, it had storage of 15.90 thousand million cubic (tmcft) feet of water against the maximum capacity of 45.05 tmcft. Last year, the stored capacity was 6.47 tmcft on the corresponding day.

The people of Bengaluru city, Mysuru city, 47 towns and 625 villages depend on the water from the Cauvery basin, comprising the KRS dam, for their daily needs.

Officials said the region needs 3 tmcft of water a month for drinking needs. So, 9 tmcft of water is required for the next three months of April, May and June. If the available water in KRS Dam alone is not used for other purposes, there will be no drinking water problem, they said. According to officials, the reservoir was filled to the brim in July 2018 as the region received good rainfall. In order to ensure sufficient water for drinking needs, the amount of water released for farm activities was reduced.

Besides the KRS dam, Kabini Dam in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district also has sufficient water compared to last year. The dam, which has a capacity to store 15.67 tmcft of water, had storage of 6.28 tmcft on Monday. Last year, it had storage of 3.97 tmcft on the corresponding day. The water level stood at 2,266.71 ft against the maximum level of 2,284 feet. The water level on the corresponding day last year was 2,261.29 feet.

In case the water in KRS Dam is not sufficient to meet Bengaluru’s needs, water can be released from Kabini Dam to reach the pumping station at Torekadanahalli in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district. The water to Bengaluru is pumped from the Torekadanahalli reservoir.

However, the water levels in Hemavathi Dam in Gorur, Hassan district, and Harangi Dam in Kodagu district are slightly low but marginally higher than their levels last year.