The water level at Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) in Mandya district attained the 100-feet mark on Wednesday, thanks to a steady inflow on account of rain in the catchment areas of the Cauvery in Kodagu district.
The water level was 100.33 ft, as against the full reservoir level of 124.80 ft. The reservoir level on the same day last year was 83.65 ft, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC). Heavy rain upstream has augmented the rate of inflow, which was 8,972 cusecs on Wednesday, as against 453 cusecs on the same day last year.
However, the dam attaining the 100-ft mark provides only psychological comfort. The live storage — which is the quantum of usable water stored — is about 41.5% of its actual capacity.
The live storage capacity of the reservoir is 45.05 tmcft. The available quantum of water as on Wednesday was 18.67 tmcft, as opposed to 8.07 tmcft available during the corresponding period last year, as per KSNDMC records.
The rate of inflow to the reservoir is expected to increase during the next 48 hours as heavy rain has pounded Bhagamandala and other places in Kodagu. India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Kodagu and forecast very heavy rain during the next two days.
The KRS water level has attained the 100-ft mark before July 10 on five occasions in the last 10 years. Last year, monsoon played truant during the first half of the season and the KRS level hovered between 86 ft and 88 ft till August 7. But what followed was unprecedented rains and floods in the catchment areas, that saw the inflow rate surge to nearly 204,000 cusecs on August 12. The dam attained the full reservoir level of 124.80 ft on August 15, with the water level in KRS rising by 36.80 ft in 7 days.
Elsewhere
Meanwhile, the water levels in other three major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin have also increased. The water level at Hemavati in Hassan district was 2,889.04 ft, as against the FRL of 2,922 ft, and the rate of inflow was 10,782 cusecs. The live storage in the dam was 12.17 tmcft, as against the capacity of 35.76 tmcft.
The water level at Kabini was 2,267.88 ft, as against the FRL of 2,284 ft. The inflow rate was low at 1,0782 cusecs and the live storage was 6.82 tmcft, as against the storage capacity of 15.67 tmcft.
The inflow into Harangi reservoir, located upstream of the KRS, was at a rate of 3,968 cusecs. The water level was 2,847.32 ft, as against the FRL of 2,859 ft. The live storage was 4.89 tmcft, as against the capacity of 8.07 tmcft.
The cumulative live storage in all four reservoirs on Wednesday was 42.55 tmcft, according to the KSNDMC.
