The three-year drought has meant plummeting water levels in the three major reservoirs in the district. The three dams have water just above the dead storage levels leading to a situation where even drawing water for drinking is difficult, let alone be used for irrigation. Lack of rain in Bidar district and parts of south-east Maharashtra that form part of the river basins is the major reason for the drying up of the dams.
Of the 23 tmc ft. of water allotted to Bidar district in the Godavari basin, projects to utilise 18.86 tmc ft. have been completed. These include the Karanja dam, Chulki nala, Manjra lift irrigation scheme, Nizam Sagar lower drainage and the existing minor irrigation tanks and barrages.
Karanja dam, the only major irrigation project in the district, has only 0.5 per cent of its total capacity of 9.27 tmc ft. There is less than 0.5 tmc ft. of water in the dam, officials stated in a recent report submitted to the district in-charge Minister.
The dam built on Karanja river, a tributary of Manjra river, was commissioned in 1969 to irrigate 29,227 hectares of land using 9.27 tmc ft. of water. It was completed in 1989. However, work on some tail-end canals, command area development and resettlement of rehabilitation of villages is yet to be completed. It has succeeded in providing water to 23,828 hectares of land at its fullest capacity.
Gross storage of the dam is 7.6 tmc ft. and live storage is 7.3 tmc ft. Of this, proposed annual average utilisation is 4.9 tmc ft., according to Karnataka Neeravari Nigam officials, who manage the reservoir. However, water levels have been quickly receding in the dam due to lack of inflow and evaporation due to the heat wave.
Karanja dam supplies drinking water to Bidar, Bhalki, Humnabad and Chitaguppa towns and 11 villages on the way. The total annual utilisation for drinking purpose is 1.1 tmc ft. However, officials have been able to draw only 0.3 tmc . of water for drinking this year.
Chulki Nala reservoir built across the eponymous stream is supposed to hold 1.53 tmc ft. of water, of which 0.9 tmc ft. would be available for irrigation. However, the water level has reached 0.55 tmc ft., which is nearing the dead storage level. Water cannot be released into the canals at this point, an officer said.
The Upper Mullamari project, built across a perennial stream, has nearly dried up. The dam in Kherda-Bujurg village in Basavakalyan taluk is supposed to hold 0.98 tmc ft. of water and irrigate 3,279 hectares. But this has less than 0.1 of water now, officials say.
