KOLHAPUR: The Maharashtra government has agreed to release 1 TMC of water from Koyna dam, located in the upstream of the Krishna River, to poll-bound Karnataka as the northern districts of the neighbouring state are facing a severe shortage both for irrigation and drinking purposes.
The water stock in Karnataka’s Almatti dam on the Krishna river has come down to 20.41%. Last year at the same time, Almatti had 35% stock. Currently, 4,500 cusecs of water is being released from Almatti dam. Karnataka felt that if the discharge continued, then the dam would empty soon.
Keeping this in mind, Karnataka demanded release of three TMC water from Koyna and other dams, especially Warna. However, the Maharashtra government has agreed to release 1 TMC and started releasing water from Tuesday evening.
A senior official of Maharashtra’s water resources department told TOI on the condition of anonymity, “Discharge of 2,100 cusecs was already on for the past few days from Koyna dam due to the rising water demand from Satara and Sangli’s rain-fed areas. Now, we have further opened the sluice gates and additional 2,100 cusecs of water is being released from Koyna dam. This means a total of 4,200 cusecs of water is being released.”
Maharashtra nod to release 1 TMC to Karnataka
Koyna dam has the capacity to store 105.24 TMC of water. The current stock is 38.17 TMC, which is nearly the same as last year’s. By June 1 last year, the water stock in Koyna dam was 21.18 TMC. It came down to 13.55 TMC by end of June.
Till then, the catchment area had received 295 mm of rain. This time, there are indications of less rain due to the anticipated warm weather conditions in the Pacific Ocean. Maharashtra irrigation authorities are exercising caution and ensuring ways to avert rapid depletion of the water level. “This is the reason that the Maharashtra government agreed to release water,” the official said.
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