Karnataka’s Water Resources Minister MB Patil on Monday said there was just enough drinking water available to be supplied till June 15, PTI reported. The minister said water rationing may help in extending the availability of water until monsoon arrives.
“The demand placed by the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board will be fulfilled every day. The current estimates suggest that we can afford to give 800 cusecs each day, which will last exactly for 60 days,” Patil said. The minister also said he had requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to ask the farmers not to use pumpsets during this period. Maharashtra has been requested to release two tmc feet water from the Krishna river, which will be supplied only after May, Patil added.
He asked the people to use water judiciously to ensure water is available for drinking needs.”We have severe drought in Karnataka and this is for the third year,” he said. There is a total of 7.748 tmc in Cauvery reservoirs – Krishna Raj Sagar, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi. KRS dam, Kabini dam together have around 4.7 tmc and the requirement for the state for 60 days is 4.5 tmc, the minister added.
Owing to a shortage of rainfall in the past three years, the dam is said to be below the storage level, reported The Hindu. While the “dead storage” level of the reservoir is at 74 feet, the water level in the KRS reservoir is at 75.24 feet.
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