Live
- Nitish reaffirms his commitment to NDA, reiterates joining Mahagathbandhan was a mistake
- PKL Season 11: U Mumbai meet UP Yoddhas in opening clash of exciting second leg in Noida
- Cong divides people on caste & religion lines for political gains: Shahnawaz Hussain
- Pushpa-2: The Rule to Launch Grand Promotional Tour Across Seven Indian Cities
- Maha polls: Congress accuses BJP of pursuing ‘divide and cut’ policy to divert attention
- His currency supply has ended: Ashwini Choubey's jibe at Tejashwi
- Rahul Gandhi should feel ashamed, his ancestors did nothing for tribals: Babulal Marandi
- Avoid challenging constitutional institutions: VP Dhankhar
- Maha polls: BJP hurls questions at INDIA bloc amid Ulema Board's conditional support to MVA
- Regional rural banks must empower MSMEs via flagship govt schemes: FM Sitharaman
Erratic monsoon hits water flows in Tungabhadra dam
The officials have reportedly decided to release 10 tmc of water in the August first week for drinking water purpose and not for irrigation. Out of 100 tmc general water availability in any good monsoon year in the dam on Karnataka side, the share of AP is 33 tmc.
Anantapur: The Tungabhadra Reservoir which has a capacity to store 230 tmcft of water, has only about 25 tmc ftof water. This is after rain water from different sources reaching the dam and increasing water levels of late.
Highlights:
- Water level and supply to Rayalaseema region badly hit due to erratic monsoon in Karnataka
- In view of poor water levels in the dam, no assurance is being given to ayacut farmers regarding release of water
Due to erratic monsoon for over couple of years, water levels and supply to Rayalaseema region had been on a downward trend. With 27,833 cusecs of water flowing into reservoir about 31 tmc of water is presently stored in the reservoir.
The officials have reportedly decided to release 10 tmc of water in the August first week for drinking water purpose and not for irrigation. Out of 100 tmc general water availability in any good monsoon year in the dam on Karnataka side, the share of AP is 33 tmc.
The water released from dam irrigates 1 lakh acres in Anantapur district and 90,000 acres in Kadapa and Kurnool districts. The Guntakal Branch Canal irrigates 30,000 acres, HLNC canal in Kanekal area irrigates 30,000 acres and the remaining is irrigated by the water that reaches MPR dam in the district.
In view of poor water levels in the dam, no assurance is being given to the ayacut farmers regarding release of water. The officials are understood to have decided to wait until August second week and then take a decision at the Tungabhadra Irrigation Development Board meeting.
The water levels position started declining to 138 tmc in 2014-15, 126 tmc in 2016-17 and presently it is around 25 tmc only. Farmers cultivate paddy in Bommanahal mandal and chillies in Vajrakarur and Guntakal mandals. Farmers have kept ready paddy transplants so that as and when water is released, paddy transplants would be undertaken.
In view of uncertainty, farmers in Kanekal mandal have kept idle 65,000 acres. Officials are also advising farmers against going for water intensive paddy. They are also asking farmers to opt for short-term crops. More than 36,000 acres in Kanekal sub-division in Bommanahal mandal where paddy crop is normally grown is in uncertainty.
Due to monsoon failure in Karnataka, this time the reservoir has stored water up to only 15 per cent of its capacity. Things have worsened in the tail-end areas due to poor water flow through HLC main canal and 10 distributory committee areas.
By Ravi P Benjamin
