The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has demanded the State government enhance the period of release of water from Bhadra reservoir to the canals to save standing crops.
According to the schedule worked out by Bhadra Command Area Development Authority (CADA), it was decided to release water from Bhadra reservoir to the canals from January 1 to May 6. The command area of Bhadra reservoir is spread over 1.02 lakh hectares of land in Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, and Davangere districts.
In a press release, H.R. Basavarajappa, honourary president of KRRS, said though water was released on January 7, it reached the tail-end region of the command area in Davangere district on January 25. Many farmers executed paddy saplings transplantation in the first week of March. The process of the grain formation in paddy plants has commenced and the crop needs water at this juncture, he said.
Mr. Basavarajappa said as pre-monsoon rain was not as expected in the command area this year, arecanut, coconut and sugarcane crops also needed water. The live storage of water in Bhadra reservoir at present is at 21 tmcft of which 7 tmcft should be reserved for drinking water needs and the remaining 14 tmcft can be used for agriculture. Keeping these factors in mind, water should be released from the reservoir to the canals till May 25 to save the standing crops, he said.