The drinking water crisis will temporarily ease for at least four days in the districts dependent on the Krishnaraja Sagar , now that around 3,500 cusecs of water has been released from the Hemavathi reservoir in Hassan.
The water-level in KRS on Monday stood at 65.15 ft ( compared to its full reservoir level of 124.8 ft).
This was clarified by a senior officer of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (CNNL), who spoke to The Hindu .
KRS supplies drinking water to Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya, Ramanagaram and Bangalore Rural, which need at least 1,100 cusecs every day. Meanwhile, CNNL is planning “harsh measures” against farmers using Cauvery water for irrigation.
“The priority is to supply Cauvery water to meet the drinking water requirements. However, farmers are pumping water into their fields. We will seize the pumps and other equipment they are using,” the officer warned.
CNNL and Irrigation Department officials have already noticed farmers pumping water from major canals, he said. However, the officer clarified that the CNNL would not file any cases against the farmers.
Mandya Superintendent of Police Borase Bhushan Gulabrao told The Hindu : “we are protecting the Cauvery water as per the instructions of the district administration. We have deployed security personnel at several places identified by CNNL officials.”
The water-level in the reservoir reached the ‘dead storage’ (74 ft) in March. Once the water-level dips to 60 ft, water cannot be drawn from the reservoir.
