With drought looming large over Karnataka , the State government has banned the use of water in its reservoirs and major tanks for “non-drinking” purposes, including irrigation, in a bid to conserve water. The State received the lowest-ever rainfall in June in the last 52 years
Disclosing this during his reply to the debate on the demand for grants for the Revenue Department in the Legislative Assembly on Friday, Minister for Revenue V. Srinivas Prasad said a circular had already been issued to the authorities concerned.
He said the State had received only 116 mm of rainfall in June as against the average rainfall of 194 mm. This had erased the positive impact of a good pre-monsoon rainfall of 171 mm received from January to May as against the average of 129 mm. This was only the third or fourth instance in the last 100 years that the crucial month of June had been so dry, he said.
This had affected sowing, which has been taken up only on 18.92 lakh hectares of land till June-end, as against the average of 25.36 lakh hectares, Mr. Prasad said.
He said the storage in all the major reservoirs was not only poor, but was less than what it was in the corresponding period last year. As against the maximum cumulative capacity of 864 tmcft from all the major reservoirs, the State had a storage of only 166 tmcft, while storage during the corresponding period last year was 254 tmcft.
The storage in six of these reservoirs was lesser than the 16 years’ average for the corresponding season.
Similarly, the storage in the three major hydel reservoirs stood at 50 tmcft as against the full capacity of 328 tmcft, he said.
Though the State has 3,554 tanks catering to irrigation, their storage too was a cause for concern as 2,328 of them were completely dry. While only eight of these tanks were full, the storage ranged from 50 to 90 per cent in 45 tanks, 30 to 50 per cent in 114 tanks and 30 per cent in 1,062 tanks.
He assured the House of co-ordinating with various departments to work together for combating the drought.
