VIJAYAPURA: The prevailing drought and limited storage of water in the Almatti dam across the Krishna River has forced the State Government to not release water into canals for irrigation for the present Kharif season and to utilize water only for drinking purposes. The decision has hit the farmers of the catchment area hard as they are struggling to save their standing crops.
The Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) of Upper Krishna Project (UKP) which met on Tuesday resolved to not release water for crops. “We have taken a unanimous decision not to release water for the kharif crops in the coming days. However, as per the decision taken in the last meeting, water would be released only for 19 days. Even this would be done based on the division-wise cropping pattern of the catchment areas. The chief engineers of different divisions will be given the authority to release water based on the cropping conditions,” said Excise Minister RB Timmapur, who is also ICC chairman.
He said that the decision was arrived at after taking into consideration the prevailing drought, availability of water and requirement of water for drinking till the next monsoon season. He said 75 tmcft of water was needed for the rabi season, but there was not enough water in the Almatti dam.
The Minister said as decided in the past, water will be released till November 18. Later, it will be stopped from November 19 to 26. Water will be released for eight days from November 27 till December 4. The engineers should also consult the Deputy Commissioner of their region and local elected representatives before releasing water, he said.
With regard to the availability of water, Timmapur said that the inflow into Almatti dam stopped from October 13 itself. After releasing water for irrigation, the dam would be left with 50 tmcft of water, and a live storage of 32 tmcft. “By adding 12 tmcft from Narayanapura dam, we will be left with only 44 tmcft. Even this water will not remain as there will be evaporation loss in summers,” he added.