For the second time in the decade, the water level in the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir (KRS), in Srirangapatna taluk, Mandya district, has depleted to 70.95 feet, ringing alarm bells among the people.
The water level had plummeted to 67.30 ft in 2007 and this year (2016), the water level as on June 22 is 70.95 ft. The inflow into the dam is usually more by June and it is not the case this time.
The maximum water level of KRS dam is 124.80 ft and it has the capacity to store 49 tmc feet of water. The present storage is 3.75 tmc feet. While the inflow to the dam was 6.79 cusecs on Wednesday, it was 13,469 cusecs, the same day last year.
Mandya has been declared as a drought-hit district for three years. Even though the water level was low during those years, it had not plummeted to this year’s low.
In 2015, the water level had not touched the 110 ft mark. Hence, the Irrigation department released water for only one crop in the district, to avert drinking water crisis. As a result, sugarcane crops dried up, causing huge losses to farmers.
It is feared that if the inflow to the dam does not rise in the next few days, it may spell trouble again.
If water in the KRS dam does not reach to its maximum level this year, farmers will be affected again.
More than 110 farmers had committed suicide in Mandya district last year. However, officials of the department of Water Resources claim that there was no drinking water problem for Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mandya districts as 3.75 tmc feet of water was available for use.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Basavraj, Executive Engineer, KRS, said, as Kodagu and surrounding regions have not received rains as expected, the water level has gone down.