Karnataka dams likely to get 30 tmc ft more this month, says Cauvery panel
The direction of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) to Karnataka on the release of water to Tamil Nadu was based on its assessment that four Karnataka reservoirs would receive 30 tmcft more in the remaining period of the current month, going by the current trend of rainfall during the southwest monsoon, according to the minutes of the committee’s meeting held on Thursday.
At the meeting, the CWRC asked Karnataka to ensure the realisation of one thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) a day, or about 11,500 cubic feet per second (cusecs), by Tamil Nadu at the inter-State point of Biligundlu. Pointing out that the total live storage of Karnataka’s four reservoirs — Krishna Raja Sagar, Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavathy — stood at about 59.88 tmcft on July 10 (about 26 tmcft more than the corresponding day last year), the minutes said that during the rest of the month (July 12-31), “the cumulative flows to be ensured at Biligundlu in a normal year, as per the Final Award of the CWDT [Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal], as modified by the Supreme Court, should be 20.15 tmcft.”
Though the CWRC considered the shortfall in the realisation — 8.358 tmcft — during the period from June 26 to July 9, it chose to adopt a “cautious approach” and ordered the quantum to be one tmcft per day (on an average, a flow of about 11,500 cusecs). Had the CWRC included the deficit for the 14 days, it would have been 1.42 tmcft a day.
Tracing the sequence of the rainfall in the Cauvery basin since the onset of the monsoon, the committee said that “after a very brief spell of good rain (up to June 10-13), the monsoon went into a lull period (June 13-23)”. It revived on June 25, and the combined flows realised from June 26 till date was in the range of 1.5 tmcft to 2.5 tmcft per day. The committee also considered the shortfall in the net realisation of water in the four Karnataka reservoirs during the period from June 1 to June 25. Against the 30-year-long average of 18.773 tmcft for the period in question, the realisation was 8.083 tmcft, a deficit of 56.9%. Between June 26 and July 9, the realisation was 33.568 tmcft, as against the average of 28.975 tmcft.
In respect of Biligundlu, the realisation in the 25 days of June was two tmcft, whereas it should have been 3.3 tmcft, keeping the same quantum of shortfall as experienced by Karnataka. The two-week period (June 26-July 9) saw a net receipt of 2.242 tmcft when compared to the stipulated quantity of 10.6 tmcft.
The CWRC advised the States concerned to make a “judicious use” of the available storage in the designated reservoirs in the basin, considering the fact that the previous year (2023-24) was a deficit year as far as the monsoon was concerned.
- Telegram
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