VIJAYAPURA : Water level in the Almatti and Narayanpura reservoirs, the primary lifeline for drinking water and irrigation in North Karnataka’s five districts, has fallen drastically, raising fears of a severe drinking water crisis by the end of July if the monsoon does not pick up.
The reservoirs supplying water to Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Yadgir, Kalaburagi and Raichur districts are witnessing critically low storage levels due to poor rainfall in the Krishna River basin.
During the corresponding period last year, both reservoirs were more than half full, prompting authorities to release lakhs of cusecs of water downstream as a precautionary measure. This year, however, the reservoirs are nearing dead storage levels with virtually no inflow, creating concern among officials and residents alike.
The Almatti reservoir, which has a total storage capacity of 123.081 tmcft, currently holds only 20.902 tmcft, of which only 3.282 tmcft can be used. The remaining is considered dead storage.
Officials attributed the drop in water level to inadequate rainfall in both the Upper Krishna basin in Karnataka and the Western Ghats region of Maharashtra. Despite the onset of the southwest monsoon more than a month ago, inflow into the Almatti reservoir has remained almost nil.
Low storage in dams worrisome
Due to shortage of water in Almatti and Narayanpur dams, the government has given strict directions to officials to keep the water only for drinking purposes and remove all pumpsets that are drawing water illegally for irrigation.
The present situation has also revived memories of the 2016-17 drought, when water from the dead storage of the Almatti reservoir had to be utilised, resulting in the death of aquatic animals. Apart from domestic consumption, major industrial units, including NTPC, may also face water shortage if inflows do not improve during July.
D Basavaraj, chief engineer, Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd (KBJNL), said the existing water stock in the Almatti reservoir is sufficient to meet the drinking water requirements only till the end of July. He cautioned that if the inflow does not commence soon, the region could face a challenging situation in the coming weeks.
