This deficient rainfall has the agrarian community worried as water levels have dipped at most of the major water reservoirs.
Published Jul 10, 2023 | 12:18 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 10, 2023 | 8:22 AM
The live water storage level dips to 1.141tmc in Almatti Dam on Sunday. (Supplied)
While the Southwest Monsoon continues to batter coastal Karnataka, the North Karnataka, Malnad, and South Karnataka regions have received considerably less rainfall than normal.
This reduced rainfall is causing worries for the agrarian community as the water levels at most of the major water reservoirs in the state have dipped to alarming levels.
Reservoirs in the Krishna river basin are left with merely 18 percent of water, whereas those under the Kaveri river basin have around 34 percent.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), “South Karnataka has received 18 percent less rainfall in the month of June. The region has received only 54 mm rainfall against the traditional rainfall of 66 mm.”
It added: “The Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Davanagere, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, and Mandya districts have reported rain deficit. North Karnataka recorded a rain deficit of 55 percent in June. Bagalkot, Belagavi, Haveri, Dharwad, and Gadag have reported a rain deficit of above 60 percent.”
It also said: “Malnad and Coastal Karnataka recorded 74 and 57 percent rain deficit, respectively, in June. However, during the last week, the districts in the coastal region recorded excess rainfall of 95 percent. The rainfall has picked up in parts of North and South Karnataka.”
The KSNDMC also noted that there had been no normal activity of rain in Karnataka.
“Coastal and Malnad Karnataka will receive heavy rains in the next 24 hours. South and North Karnataka are likely to receive moderate rains,” an official from the KSNDMC told South First.
Even a month after the onset of monsoon in Karnataka, parts of the Western Ghats, mainly in the Krishna river basin, have hardly received rainfall, resulting in the water level dipping in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Water Reservoir (Almatti Dam) as there is no inflow.
According to the officials of Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL): “The gross capacity is around 19.036 tmcft in the Almatti Dam. The live storage capacity stands at 1.416 tmcft. There is no inflow to the dam and outflow is 578 cusecs.”
The live capacity at Almatti Dam has recorded less than 2 tmcft for the first time in the last five years.
Belagavi Regional In-charge Commissioner Nitesh Patil, who is the deputy commissioner of Belagavi, chaired a meeting with the officials of Bagalkot and Vijayapura and assessed the monsoon situation in the region.
He also took stock of water levels at all three reservoirs in the Krishna river basin.
Stating that there was about a 50 percent rain deficit in the Belagavi region, Regional Commissioner Patil told South First: “As the rain has picked up since Saturday evening, we are relieved a bit. The region has recorded a 50 percent rain deficit. There is intermittent rainfall in the area, which is not converting huge inflows into the rivers.”
He added: “There is no inflow to Almatti Dam till Sunday morning. However, the Krishna basin in Maharashtra is recording good rainfall for the last few days. Around 20,000 cusecs inflow is expected to Almatti Dam on Sunday night — first inflow to the reservoir this monsoon.”
He also said: “Even Hidkal Dam, built across Ghataprabha river, is receiving around 3,000 cusecs inflow. There is around 4.23 tmcft of water storage in Hidkal Dam, which has a maximum storage of 51 tmcft.”
He continued: “The Navilteerth Dam, built across the Malaprabha River, is likely to receive inflow at midnight on Sunday due to good rains in parts of Goa and Maharashtra. The dam has 3.74tmc of water against the maximum storage capacity of 37.73tmc. The water levels in all the reservoirs are expected to improve in a day or two.”
Patil also claimed that the situation was not grim due to good rains in the past 24 hours.
On drinking water issues in the Krishna River basin, Patil pointed out: “I have directed all the officials concerned to use the available water judiciously. The delayed monsoon has led to an increase in drinking water woes. In most of the districts, water tankers are being used to meet the drinking water demands.”
“As the rain picked up in the last two days, the trend of using water tankers is reducing. We are ensuring proper drinking water supply to all the villages. We are monitoring the situation very closely. There will be no shortage of drinking water till July 2024, we have sufficient water storage in the reservoirs,” Patil said.
Farmers heave a sigh of relief as the rain picks up in parts of North Karnataka in the first ten days of July as the region recorded 28 percent excess rainfall compared to traditional rainfall.
The agricultural activities for the Kharif season are in full swing in many districts of North Karnataka as the region has recorded 38mm of rainfall against the normal rainfall of 30mm.
Koppal and Gadag have recorded excess rainfall, with recorded rainfall of 32mm and 34mm against the traditional rains of 13mm and 16mm respectively. Dharwad received 51mm, Vijayapura and Bagalkot recorded 20mm each and Bidar recorded 74mm.
BS Lingangoudar, a farmer residing in Gadag’s Rona taluka, told South First: “We are receiving good rainfall in the past ten days. If the rain continues to pour at the same rate, we can have a bumper crop in Kharif.”
“At the beginning of the monsoon, we were worried as there was hardly any rainfall. The recent rains have distanced all our worries. At present, I have sown red gram in nine acres of land. It is in good condition,” added Linganagouda.
He also said that the farmers have begun sowing maize, onion and chilly in the region.
However, the farmers in Vijayapura and Bagalkot are still praying for rains as over 50 percent of the farmers are yet to start sowing Toor Dal, which is the major crop in the Kharif, due to poor rains.
On whether the government has given any hint of declaring north Karnataka as a drought-hit area, Regional Commissioner Patil told South First: “Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda is likely to chair a review meeting on 15 July on taking the final decision on the matter.”
“Last week, the minister had chaired a review meeting. There is no overwhelming weather forecast for the month of July in north Karnataka. However, the rains have picked up in the last 24 hours.”
“Even the farming community is worried and a very meagre amount of sowing has been reported in the entire region. With the rain being picked up, the agricultural activities are likely to begin at full pace,” stated Patil.
Criticising the Karnataka government for poor water management and infrastructure, Activist Ashok Chandragi told South First: “There is no proper water management and necessary infrastructure in place to store sufficient water to tackle the drought in Krishna River basin.”
“Every year, the Almatti Dam receives a huge inflow but ends up flowing to the Bay of Bengal. The government has hardly initiated ways to utilise the excess water that flows into the reservoir. The excess water must be utilised to fill all the lakes in the basin.”
“Despite not receiving good rains, Maharashtra has sufficient water in the Krishna basin due to the local government measures. They ensure that all the lakes in the basin are filled when Koyna and Warna dams are brimming. Similar steps have to be initiated in Karnataka,” Chandaragi said.
He demanded the government take up effective water management and infrastructure measures in the Krishna River basin.
He added: “There are reports that the government might wait for another week, that is, till 15 July before declaring this region as drought hit. The situation is critical in the region due to poor rains.”
“Even the storage levels at Koyna reservoir stand at 21 tmc against the total capacity of 105.25tmc. In the Koyna reservoir, there is 13.26 tmc against the maximum storage capacity of 34.40 tmc. These are two major reservoirs of Krishna basin in Maharashtra,” he said.
“The lack of water storage in the reservoirs in North Karnataka has led to severe drinking water issues. The drinking water is supplied once in ten days in Belagavi. There is a similar situation in Gadag, Bagalkot, Dharwad and Vijayapura,” Chandaragi added highlighting the issues in the Krishna basin.
