Pune: The Maharashtra government on Sunday released water from the Koyna dam in Satara district to alleviate the water crisis in Karnataka. Around 0.5 TMC water will be released over a 10-day period, authorities have said.
Water level in the Kaveri river basin has plummeted due to the soaring temperature.
This is the second such discharge from the Koyna reservoir to Karnataka. Last month, 2.5 TMC water was released from the reservoir following a high-level meeting between officials of the neighbouring States.
This cumulative discharge of 3 TMC follows a direct appeal on part of Karnataka Water Resources Minister M. B. Patil to provide relief to Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijaypura districts. In return, Karnataka will release water from the Almatti dam to cater to the needs of Solapur district and others parts in Maharashtra facing water shortage.
Late last month, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan had said nine of the 12 dams in Karnataka barely had 20% of their water stock. “The available live storage in the reservoirs has touched an all-time low,” Mr. Mahajan had said, adding that he had ordered the discharge from Koyna dam to bring immediate relief to farmers in Karnataka.
With a storage capacity of 105 TMC, the Koyna reservoir is one of the largest dams in the State. It houses the massive Koyna hydropower generation plant.
Three consecutive years of drought have aggravated the agrarian crisis in Karnataka, especially in the north.
