After Karnataka’s release claim, KRS storage at 74ft

Sources said that as 2,000 cusecs of water was allegedly released every day to Tamil Nadu the storage level in the reservoir has come down to 78.7 ft on Thursday evening against its full height of 124.8 ft. The dead storage level is 74 ft. The storage level on October 27 last year was 105.29 ft. However, officials at the zero point in Billiguntlu on confirmed that till Thursday evening there was no significant flow from the Karnataka side. This was seconded by the PWD officials at Mettur that a meagre 184 cusecs was trickling into the Stanley reservoir. 

Sources said that after a gap of 64 years the level in the Krishnaraja Sagar dam has come down below 99.50 feet and previous record was 94.40 feet in 1952. There was 82.13 ft. when the Irrigation Department began to act upon the Supreme Court’s direction on October 24. According to Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (CNNL), the level dipped to 80.7 ft. on Wednesday, then 79.54 ft. at 6 a.m. on Thursday, and further plunged to 78.7 ft. by evening. The inflow into the reservoir was at the rate of just 274 cusecs, while the discharge was at 6,133 cusecs.  

Of the total quantum discharged, around 2,000 cusecs went into the canals to irrigate standing crops and also to meet the drinking water requirements of Bengaluru, Mysuru and other Cauvery-dependent areas, said CNNL officials. “We have to abide the court order. The State had not discharged water till October 24. So we have been compensating the apex court’s order by discharging water at 4,000 cusecs a day,” a senior CNNL official said. The live storage in the reservoir was 2.206 tmcft, while the gross storage capacity was 10.585 tmcft. The maximum live storage of KRS is 45.051 tmcft and the full gross storage capacity is 49.452 tmcft. The storage level is likely to reach 74 feet by October 30 if the same quantum is released from the reservoir, the official added.