Warning to fishermen and farmers following rise in water level in Krishna river in Karnataka

The government of Karnataka has issued a warning to fishermen and farmers not to enter the river Krishna and its tributaries after water levels rose due to release of water from reservoirs in neighbouring Maharashtra on June 23.

The average water released into the Krishna and its tributaries has crossed 91,000 cusecs, or 8.25 tmcft of water. This water is expected to reach the Lal Bahadur Shastri reservoir in Almatti by June 24.

Irrigation department issued a warning on June 23.

Considering rainfall in catchment area and discharge from Krishna river (Kallol barrage)and Ghataprabha river (Lolasur bridge), inflow to Almatti dam is likely to increase. Hence, outflow to river will be gradually increased from present 50,000 cusec to 70,000 cusec on June 23 at 11 a.m.

Similarly, considering rainfall in upstream catchment area and discharges from Almattti dam, inflow to Narayanpur dam is likely to increase around 70,000 cusecs. Hence, outflow to river will be gradually increased from 42,820 cusec to 70,000 cusec on June 23 at 3 p.m. onwards.

Authorities in Revenue Department, zilla panchayat and urban local bodies have been told to alert residents of downstream villages, and towns.

The average inflow into the Almatti dam was nearly 98,611 cusecs, or around 8.9 tmcft, and outflow was around 50,440 cusecs, or 4.5 tmcft. The dam has around 75 tmcft of water against its capacity of 123 tmcft.