MYSURU: Even as heavy rain has affected normal life, it has washed away Karnataka’s worries, as the state has been able to release water to the lower riparian state of Tamil Nadu.
With heavy discharge of excess water from dams in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka, and copious rainfall in its catchment areas, the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur in Tamil Nadu has achieved its full reservoir level (FRL).
The water level at the 88-year-old Stanley Reservoir, built by the British regime, has been rapidly increasing since July 11, when Karnataka began releasing excess water from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar dams in Mysuru district.
The backwater of Mettur reservoir stretched up to Anemadu and Gopinatham in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district, along the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. As per the Supreme Court’s verdict, Karnataka must release 177 TMC water to Tamil Nadu every year.
As Stanley reservoir reaches its FSL due to copious rain in Karnataka, the state has been able to meet its requirement. It will ease the Cauvery crisis, said Karnataka State Farmers Federation president Kurubur Shanthakumar.
As excess water from this dam is reaching the sea, and wasting away every year during the monsoon, Shanthakumar requested Tamil Nadu to help Karnataka, to construct the Mekedatu balancing reservoir in Karnataka, which will not only help to ease the drinking water crisis in Bengaluru, but also helps to store excess water, that is discharged by dams upstream.
Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNN) chief engineer Shankaregowda, said the Cauvery River Water Management Authority (CWMA), which will meet once a month, will regulate the release of water from the dams in the Cauvery River basin districts.
