Farmers took out a protest rally in Ghataprabha town in Belagavi district on Wednesday, demanding release of waters from the Hidkal dam into irrigation canals.
They blocked the Gokak-Ghataprabha-Hukkeri State Highway for over an hour and demanded that irrigation officials release water into the Left Bank canal so that villages and towns downstream receive water.
The protestors said that delayed rainfall has created a severe water scarcity in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts. Releasing water now will not only help farmers in Raibag and other taluks in Belagavi but also those in Jamkhandi, Mudhol and Mahalingpur in Bagalkot district, they said.
They said that cattle head are dying due to lack of water and people are suffering and that farmers are unable to take up sowing in most areas.
They said that farmers from Bagalkot district joined the protest. They dispersed after irrigation, revenue and police officers convinced them that their concerns will be communicated to the State government.
Despite significant rainfall in southern Maharashtra and northern Karnataka, most dams remain nearly empty.
For example, the Raja Lakhamagouda reservoir on the Ghataprabha in Hidkal holds only 3.81 tmcft of water as against its full reservoir level of 51 tmcft. It had 12 tmcft of water at the same time last year. The inflow is just 2,938 cusecs as against 22,184 cusecs last year. The outflow has been restricted to 90 cusecs.
In Dhupadal weir, the inflow and outflow recorded on Wednesday was 1,605 cusecs. The Naviluteertha dam on the Malaprabha at Saundatti has just 10% of water of the full reservoir capacity. It has 3.3 tmcft of water as against a full capacity of 37.3 tmcft. Inflow was zero but the outflow was 194 cusecs.
The Almatti dam has just 18 tmcft of water as against its capacity of 123 tmcft. It has zero inflow but the outflow was 561 cusecs.
