Despite opposition from the Irrigation Consultation Committee (ICC) of Bhadra Command Area Development Authority (CADA), water is being released from the Bhadra reservoir to the river to meet drinking water needs in Gadag district.
The release of water to the river started on March 23 and is likely to conclude on March 31. It has been planned to release 2 tmcft from the reservoir to the river during this period.
The office of Regional Commissioner of Mysuru had written to Bhadra CADA on March 11 seeking release of 2 tmcft from the reservoir to the river to meet the drinking water needs in Gadag district. Following this, a meeting of ICC of Bhadra CADA was convened on March 12.
Elected representatives and functionaries of farmers’ organisations, who attended the meeting, had opposed the release of water. They had said that it would result in shortage of water for summer crops in the command area. The meeting then took a decision against releasing water.
According to sources, the State government again wrote to Bhadra CADA on March 22 to release 2 tmcft of water to the river. Acting on this direction, the water is being released.
Live storage
The live storage in Bhadra reservoir at present is 18 tmcft against the total live storage capacity of 63 tmcft. The Bhadra CADA had promised to release water along the canals for a period of 125 days from January 4 for cultivation of agricultural crops in the command area in summer. Water has already been released along the canals for 80 days. The total requirement of water for agriculture needs for the remaining 45 days is estimated to be at 17 tmcft.
According to existing rules, 4.35 tmcft water should be released from Bhadra reservoir to the river to meet drinking needs from January to May, of which 3.35 tmcft was already released by March 15 this year. The CADA had planned to release the remaining 1 tmcft in phases. The decision taken by Bhadra CADA to release 2 tmcft to the river now would result in shortage of 1 tmcft of water for agriculture needs in the command area.
Vishwanath, a farmer from Arabilachi village, told The Hindu that the farmers in the tail-end region of the command area would be worst affected because of the decision to release more than the stipulated quantity of water to the river. Paddy yield in the tail-end region will not be on the expected level, he said.
