Owing to good rainfall in the Tungabhadra catchment area, the Tungabhadra Reservoir near Hosapete in Vijayanagara district, one of the major reservoirs in the State, has been receiving satisfactory inflow for the last 10 days.
As per information provided by the Tungabhadra Board authorities, the storage in the dam has increased from just 3.911 tmcft on July 10 to 54.138 tmcft at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The hourly inflow into the reservoir was recorded at 1,21,918 cusecs at 6 p.m. The storage capacity of the reservoir is 105.788 tmcft.
The rise of storage level in the reservoir has triggered fresh hopes among farmers in the command areas. Lakhs of acres of agricultural land in Karatagi, Gangavati and Kanakagiri in Koppal district and Manvi, Sindhanur and Raichur taluks in Raichur district are heavily dependent on water from the reservoir for cultivation of crops.
With the inflow increasing in the dam every day, agricultural activities have gathered momentum in the areas served by its waters. Farmers have sown paddy saplings in nursery beds and also, have prepared their land for transplantation. Usually, premium quality Sona Masuri is grown in this irrigated belt and exported to many rice-consuming countries.
“Raichur district has been receiving good rainfall for the last 10 days. We are happy that the storage level in the Tungabhadra Reservoir has crossed the 50% mark. We are expecting the release of water into the canals within a week from now. Since the storage is healthy, there is no problem in releasing water. I request the ICC (Irrigation Consultative Committee) to meet soon and take a decision to release water,” honorary president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Chamarasa Malipatil told The Hindu.
According to him, water should reach the fields before August 15 so that paddy transplantation can be taken up early to ensure good quality and quantity of output. “If the transplantation is delayed, both the yield and its quality will be very poor,” he added.
Meanwhile, incessant rainfall has been lashing most parts of Kalyana Karnataka, especially Bidar, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Raichur districts, since Wednesday night, after a brief lull for a day.
Considering the alert issued by the meteorology department, Ballari and Raichur Deputy Commissioners declared a holiday for schools, colleges and Anganwadis on Thursday in their districts.
Bidar district reported damage to 23 houses due to rainfall. The district received 18.17 mm of rainfall with Bagdhal Hobli receiving the maximum of 36 mm.
The inflow into the Karanja has steadily increased and discharge from the dam has also gone up to 7,000 cusecs causing closure of several bridges built across the river downstream, including those at Tugave, Kanaji, Dawargaon and Lakhagavi.
Rain that has been lashing the region since July 19 has damaged agricultural crops. Due to excess water-logging in the fields, roots of red gram, cotton, soyabean and green gram crops are getting affected.
