The outflow from the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir in Mandya district crossed 1 lakh cusecs on Sunday evening owing to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of rivers Cauvery and Hemavathi.
Dam authorities confirmed that the outflow from the Hemavathi reservoir in Gorur in Hassan district had been stepped up, which has augmented the rate of inflow into the KRS. Similarly, heavy rain in the catchment area of the Cauvery in Kodagu district since the last few days has augmented the volume of water in all the rivulets and tributaries of the Cauvery, including the Lakshmanthirtha, all of which flow into the KRS.
Besides, the KRS attained its full reservoir level of 124.8 feet in July and hence the authorities have to match the outflow with the corresponding inflow for safety reasons and cannot impound water.
As the combined inflow into the KRS from the Cauvery and its tributaries was at the rate of 91,637 cusecs, the dam authorities increased the outflow from the reservoir which was at the rate of 1,00,719 cusecs as at 6 p.m. on Sunday. This is for the first time during the current monsoon season that the rate of outflow has crossed the 100,000 cusecs mark.
Sources said depending on the rains and the inflow, the rate of outflow too will be stepped up. As a result, people living in the downstream of the KRS reservoir have been warned to move to safer places along with their livestock. Wellesely Bridge, Ranganathittu, Sangama, and Paschimavahini in Srirangapatana will bear the brunt of increase in outflow and will be out of bounds for tourists.
The district administration of Charamajanagar had already issued a warning advising people living in the tail-end regions on the banks of river Cauvery in Kollegal taluk to move to safer locations. While the outflow from the KRS is above 1,00,000 cusecs, the outflow from the Kabini is at the rate of 25,000 cusecs. The impact of the combined outflow from the KRS and the Kabini reservoirs will be felt in places like Mulluru, Hale Hampapura, Dasanapura, Haleanagalli, Harale, Saraguru, Dhanagere, Yedakuriya, Sattegala and a few other villages.
Meanwhile, the cumulative outflow from the KRS and the Kabini since June 1 has crossed 153 thousand million cubic ft (tmcft), according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.
