Water from Gorur reservoir increases KRS level by 3.39 feet in six days

As the KRS level was inching towards the dead storage level (74 ft.), the Irrigation Department had discharged the Hemavathi water from the Gorur dam in Hassan to the KRS, from February 25 to March 2.

The water level of the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir, across the Cauvery in the district, has risen by 3.39 feet in the last six days, following the release of water from a Hassan dam.

The reservoir, near Srirangapatna, had 81.65 ft. of water, against its maximum capacity of 124.80 ft. on Friday. The level was 78.26 ft. on February 24.

As the KRS level was inching towards the dead storage (74 ft.), the Irrigation Department had discharged the Hemavathi water from the Gorur dam in Hassan to the KRS, from February 25 to March 2.

According to an officer of the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd., the KRS was receiving just 105 cusecs of water on February 24.

Following the discharge from the Hemavathi, the flow into the KRS rose to 2,101 cusecs on Feb 26. It increased to 8,846 cusecs on Feb 27; 6,100 on Feb 28, 1,142 on March 1 and 1,143 cusecs on March 2. Nevertheless, the discharge from Gorur dam was stopped on March 2 following a protest by the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. Hence, the inflow to the KRS has dipped to 381 cusecs on Friday.

The live storage in the KRS has also improved by 1.493 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet), the officer added.

According to him, the live storage was 1.661 tmcft on February 24 and it increased to 3.154 tmcft on Friday.

The full reservoir level (FRL) of KRS is 124.80 feet.

The KRS is the lifeline of several districts in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. The CNNL has been supplying 1,200 cusecs of water everyday to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya and Ramanagaram districts.

The water scarcity in the Cauvery dependent areas is expected to aggravate in the coming weeks as the KRS is drying up.