HOSAPETE: After a heavy rainfall in the Western Ghats region of the state, the Tungabhadra dam in Hosapete town of Vijayanagara district has started receiving heavy inflows over the last one week. The water level at the dam two months ago was 3 tmcft and now it has risen to 8 tmcft with inflows of 10,503 cusecs over the last two days.
At the same time last year, the dam had a storage of only 3 tmcft because of drought. Officials hope that this year, the dam level could go up to 80 tmcft, as against its capacity of 100.855 tmcft. Tunga and Bhadra rivers originate in Chikkamagaluru district, and catchment areas of the rivers received a heavy rainfall two weeks ago.
Shantaram K, a farmer leader from Hosapete, said 200 cusecs of water is being released into the canals. He requested officials of Vijayanagara, Koppal, Ballari and Raichur districts to release water for irrigation purposes, as paddy and chilli crops need water now.