Boat operations have been suspended at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary from Saturday, for an indefinite period, as the flow in the Cauvery has significantly increased.
A senior Forest Department official told The Hindu on Saturday that it is not advisable to continue the operations considering the safety of visitors.
However, there won’t be restrictions on entry of visitors to the sanctuary.
A good quantum of water has been discharged from upstream Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) since Friday evening.
Protests
Meanwhile, Bengaluru-Mysuru highway witnessed gridlocks on Saturday, with farmers holding protests against the discharge of water to Tamil Nadu at Srirangapatna, Induvalu, Mandya, Maddur, and other places. The outflow from KRS to Tamil Nadu was increased at the rate of 4,802 cusecs on Saturday evening.
They raised slogans against the State government, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, and Minor Irrigation and district in-charge Minister C.S. Puttaraju. Farmers said they had been demanding water to save standing crops in the district. However, the government had not taken measures to help them and was now discharging water to T.N. They wanted the government to stop the release immediately as water at the KRS was precariously low owing to a weak monsoon.
KRS water level
The KRS reservoir level stood at 90.03 ft on Saturday morning, as against the full reservoir level of 124.80 ft.
The reservoir had attained almost maximum level on the same day last year.
While Saturday’s live storage was just 7.575 tmcft, there was 38.2 tmcft on the same day last year.