Tungabhadra dam gets new crest gates, but weak monsoon threatens paddy crop, survival of rice mills in Karnataka

For thousands of farmers across the fertile Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal command area in the Raichur and Koppal districts of Karnataka, trouble has come for the third year in a row. Two years ago, they reluctantly gave up the second paddy crop after one of the crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam was washed away when the reservoir was full. In 2025 too, they sacrificed another crop as the government undertook the replacement of all the dam’s ageing crest gates.

This year, however, nature itself has turned against them. With the southwest monsoon faltering and the Tungabhadra reservoir reduced to barely 9.2 tmcft against its capacity of 105.788 tmcft as of Sunday, farmers now fear losing even the first kharif crop, threatening not only their livelihood but also the vast economy sustained by the command area.

The Tungabhadra dam irrigates around 12.1 lakh acres across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, including nearly 8.7 lakh acres in Karnataka. Of this, the Tungabhadra Left Bank Main Canal alone officially irrigates more than six lakh acres in the Raichur and Koppal districts, although farmers estimate that another two lakh acres receive water through unauthorised field channels.

Land of Sona Masuri rice

The command area is renowned for cultivating premium Sona Masuri paddy, one of Karnataka’s finest rice varieties. Farmers are normally busy in the first week of July, preparing nursery beds and fields for paddy transplantation. But this year, they are staring at an uncertain future as the Government of Karnataka has clearly indicated that the limited water available in reservoirs would be reserved for drinking purposes until the monsoon improves.

Recent rainfall in the Western Ghats, the principal catchment of the Tungabhadra, and the water released after the Tunga reservoir reached full capacity have raised expectations that inflows into the Tungabhadra may improve if the monsoon strengthens over the coming weeks.

“Even if the reservoir receives around 50 tmcft over the next 20 days, farmers can begin transplantation. Only a handful of those who have borewells or other alternative sources have taken the risk of raising nursery beds, hoping that the monsoon will revive and that the reservoir will receive substantial inflows,” said Chamarasa Malipatil, honorary president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and a farmer leader from Manvi.

Empty fields, silent mills

The consequences of another failed paddy season extend far beyond the farms. Nearly 200 rice mills spread across the Raichur and Koppal districts depend almost entirely on paddy grown in the Tungabhadra command. Raichur district alone has about 120 mills. Together, they employ over 3,000 workers, including more than 2,000 migrant labourers from Bihar, Jharkhand and other northern States.

During a normal hulling season, the mills operate around-the-clock. Around 250 truckloads of premium Sona Masuri rice leave Raichur every day during the peak milling season for markets across India and for export to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, African countries, and the Gulf. That movement has slowed significantly over the past two years following reduced paddy production.

According to the Raichur Rice Millers’ Association, most mills are currently surviving on paddy procured from the border regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the existing stocks are expected to last only another two to three weeks.

“If the mills suspend operations, we cannot send our workers away. Most of them are migrant workers. If they return to their native States, they may never come back when operations resume. We, therefore, continue to pay them minimum wages and provide them with food and accommodation even when there is no work. We have no other choice,” said Maram Tippanna, secretary of the Raichur Rice Millers’ Association.