The crest gates of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir near Mysuru were opened on Saturday at 1.15 p.m. with the dam nearing full reservoir level (FRL).
The water level was hovering around 122.7 feet as against the FRL of 124.8 feet. It is a protocol to maintain a cushion of nearly two feet as a safety measure in case of incessant rains in the catchment area of the Cauvery and high inflow into the reservoir as at present.
Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (CNNL) authorities said water was being released from 11 crest gates at the rate of 20,000 cusecs and would be stepped up gradually depending on the rate of inflow into the reservoir. The inflow into the reservoir was around 42,000 cusecs at noon. Incidentally, the dam attained the FRL after a gap of four years.
Also, this is the first time in 38 years that the KRS has attained the FRL as early as in the second week of July and the last time was in 1980. In the last 50 years, the KRS has attained FRL in July on five occasions, according to senior officials of CNNL at the dam site. With the KRS attaining FRL, all the four major reservoirs in the Cauvery basin in Karnataka are full.
Meanwhile, inflow into the KRS is expected to be further augmented as the crest gates of Hemavathi and the Harangi reservoirs — both of which are in the upstream of KRS — have been opened. The combined release from both the reservoirs coupled with natural flow into the river accruing owing to heavy rains in the catchment areas was bound to increase the inflow into the KRS.
The outflow from the Hemavathi reservoir at Goruru was at the rate of 15,000 cusecs against an inflow of 24,743 cusecs. It is for the first time since the completion of its construction in 1979 that the dam has attained its FRL of 2,922 feet in the second week of July. The dam has attained its FRL of 2,922 feet on 30 occasions. The total inflow on Friday was 24,743 cusecs.
The outflow from the Kabini reservoir was at the rate of 48,375 cusecs as against an inflow of 43,400 cusecs. The cumulative discharge from Kabini alone since June 1, 2018 is 42.29 tmcft. The combined discharge from both Kabini reservoir and KRS on Saturday was at the rate of around 70,000 cusecs.
Man rescued
A 35-year-old man was rescued from the swollen Cauvery near Srirangapatna of the district on Saturday.
According to police sources, the incident occurred near Chandravana Ashram. Mahadeva, a resident of Kyathanahalli near Pandavapura, and some of his friends had come for a party. The level in the river suddenly increased following discharge of heavy water from the upstream KRS reservoir. While his friends escaped, Mahadeva got swept away for some distance.
A local resident, and the police and personnel of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services rescued him, sources said.
