Farmers in the region have expressed dismay over the latest directives of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee to Karnataka to release 3000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu, for another 15 days till October 31.
The directive is akin to adding insult to injury and has also underscored the State government’s inability to project the current situation in Karnataka, said Kurubur Shanthakumar of Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators Association.
He said in a release that this is a major setback to Karnataka and also raises suspicion about the intent of the CWRC and CWMA. The directives are against the principles of natural justice especially when Karnataka itself was reeling under severe drought, Mr. Shanthakumar added.
“People of Bengaluru are facing drinking water scarcity, farmers in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka have been unable to reap a single crop this year owing to poor rains, the dams are empty and yet the patience of Kannadigas are being tested repeatedly by such directives to release water,” said Mr. Shanthakumar.
Hitting out at the CWRC for the directives Mr. Shanthakumar said that the members of the committee seem to have ignored the ground realities in Karnataka while the State government has failed to protect and uphold the interest of the farmers.
Meanwhile, the water level at Krishnaraja Sagar across the Cauvery was hovering at 100.64 feet against the maximum level of 124.80 feet on Wednesday morning. The gross storage capacity of the dam is 49.45 tmc ft against which the live storage was 23.31 tmc ft. The rate of inflow was 5578 cusecs and the outflow including the discharge into the canals was at the rate of 6165 cusecs.
The reservoir level at Kabini dam was 2276.20 ft against the maximum level of 2284 ft. The gross storage capacity of the dam is 19.52 tmc against which the live storage was 14.92 tmc ft. The rate of inflow was 2684 cusecs and the outflow was at the rate of 3550 cusecs of which 2000 cusecs was into the river.
