KRS crosses 100 ft mark; Kabini 3 ft from brim

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Incessant rains in the catchment areas of the Cauvery Basin have been steadily pushing up water levels in all four dams in the basin.

While the Krishna Raja Sagar Reservoir in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district crossed the crucial 100 feet mark on Tuesday, Kabini Dam in HD Kote taluk of Mysuru district is short of the brim by just three feet.

On Tuesday, the inflow into KRS dam was 48025 cusecs and the outflow was 5449 cusecs. The water storage in the dam is 14.430 tmc as against the total storage of 40 tmc.

If the current inflow continues for another week, the dam would fill to the brim. The water level in Kabini Reservoir was 2281.27 ft (maximum 2284 ft) with an inflow of 25,485 cusecs and an outflow of 15,000 cusecs.

The outflow increased from 15,000 cusces to 20,000 cusecs following heavy rain in catchment areas in the Wayanad region of Kerala. A bridge near Bidrahalli has been submerged in water. If the outflow crosses 30,000 cusecs, then several temples and areas in the temple town of Nanjangud in Mysuru district would go under water.

The taluk administration of Nanjangud is on high alert and closely monitoring the release of water from Kabini dam. In Kodagu district, rainfall has declined but the flood situation continues in several parts.

The floods and gusty winds have caused large-scale damages across the district. The rain has been normal in Talacauvery, the origin of the Cauvery River, and Bhagamandala.

The flood water which had surrounded Sri Bagandeshwara Temple has receded but several roads and houses are still under water. Meanwhile, consequent to the release of water from Harangi dam, water has entered Sai Extension and Kuvempu Extension in Kushalanagar City.

Residents have blamed the authorities concerned for not giving information in advance regarding the release of water from the dam.

They have questioned the district administration for the formation of the layout in spite of knowing that the area would be submerged whenever excess water is released from the dam.