Water level in the Almatti dam is coming down rapidly in the wake of the rising mercury levels in the district.
According to officials of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd., the rate of evaporation is around 700 cusecs per day. This year, in March itself, the temperature in the district has been hovering between 38 degrees Celsius and 39 degrees Celsius which is only going to go up in April and May.
The officials said that the storage in the dam is 20.973 tmcft now. It was 23.539 tmcft at the same time last year. The water level is 507.88 metres now. The full-reservoir level is 519 metres while the total storage capacity is 123 tmcft.
Following the rapid depletion of water, the district administrations of Vijayapura and Bagalkot have appealed to the people to use water optimally. Officials of these districts have launched a drive to disconnect illegal pipelines and seize pumpsets that are illegally drawing water from the dam.
The government has instructed farmers not to use the water for irrigation as the priority is for drinking water.
“We have to manage with the available water for drinking till June. We have asked farmers not to draw water for their fields from the dam,” Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep said.
The district administration believes that the drinking water crisis will only aggravate if the district failed to receive rain. The current storage of water could barely last till June. Meanwhile, some farmers have urged the government not to supply water to any industries and thermal plants from the dam.
