Farmers in the Tungabhadra command area in Ballari district are a worried lot with the low inflow into the Tungabhadra reservoir in Hosapete this kharif season.
As on Tuesday, the reservoir level stood at 1,607.83 ft as against the full reservoir level of 1,633 ft, with an inflow 27,838 cusecs. The dam has augmented 31.270 tmcft of water as against its full capacity of 133 tmcft. Last year, on the same day, the storage in the dam was 40.619 tmcft with inflow of 5,440 cusecs.
Farmers, particularly paddy cultivators, are apprehensive of taking up paddy owing to low inflow on the one hand and the deficient rainfall during the month. As the river has gone dry and underground water sources also have depleted, the paddy nursery area has also come down considerably.
During the last two previous years, farmers cultivating water intensive paddy crop in the kharif season luckily scraped through as they could get water supply. But, this year, paddy cultivators are also in a state of confusion over the choice of crop to be cultivated. If they preferred paddy, they are not sure of getting adequate water. If they chose to opt for alternative crops, they had to take up land preparation to suit such cultivation.
Even those who had cultivated cotton and chilli during the last kharif season suffered a lot due to early closure of canals and as water was not released for a second crop.
Usually, water is released into the canals during the last week of July or the first week of August based on the augmented storage in the dam and also in anticipation of a good rainfall during August and September.
However, this year, due to very low inflow, which improved only during the last one week, the storage was around 31 tmcft. And, there are still no signs of the Tungabhadra Irrigation Consultative Committee convening a meeting to decide on the date of water release.