Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Mandya may escape a drinking water crisis for now as storage at the primary sources — Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir and Kabini dam — is expected to last up to June. But, if there’s a delay in monsoon, the situation may worsen, leading to major water scarcity. The good news is that authorities are expecting early rain in the catchment areas of the dam.
Mysuru city alone requires 0.3 tmcft of water from KRS reservoir and 0.1 tmcft from Kabini dam a month to meet the drinking water needs of the 10 lakh-plus population. Kabini dam alone supplies water at the rate of around 500 to 600 cusecs of water daily to Bengaluru. “Water to Bengaluru is discharged based on the demand from the BWSSB and this water is stored at the main storage point near Bengaluru for daily use,” sources at the dam told The Hindu . The level at KRS dam on Monday stood at 71.12 feet as against the maximum of 124.80 feet. The level on this day last year was 79.58 feet. The live storage was 2.98 tmcft, while it was 6.20 tmcft last year.
The level at Kabini dam stood at 2,249.16 ft. as against the maximum of 2,284 ft. This year’s level is around one feet more that last year’s 2,248.22 ft.
Perturbed officials and elected representatives from the Mysuru City Corporation rushed to the Kabini dam a few days ago after the discharge of water was stopped for about three days. This had hit pumping and disrupted drinking water supply in some parts of the city. However, the supply has since returned to normal.
The dam authorities had stopped the discharge as there was no communication from the MCC staff deployed at the points where the water was pumped, on the quantum to be discharged from the dam. A total of 100 cusecs was released daily to Mysuru from the dam which accounts to about 60 mld.
Speaking to The Hindu , MCC Commissioner G. Jagadeesha appealed to residents to use water judiciously. “If monsoon is delayed, the situation may turn from bad to worse. We need to start saving the last remaining water and use it with a lot of care,” he said.
