Koppal, 27 June

Despite Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently inaugurating the replacement of all 33 crest gates at the Tungabhadra reservoir, the dam is fast approaching dead storage due to poor monsoon rains.

The reservoir, with a total capacity of 105.788 TMC ft, held only 9.55 TMC ft of water on Friday, compared to 52.93 TMC ft on the corresponding day last year. With the dead storage level at about 2.3 TMC ft, only a little over 7 TMC ft remains usable.

Poor rainfall in the Malnad region and the Tungabhadra catchment has sharply reduced inflows. Koppal district has recorded an 8 per cent rainfall deficit in June, while neighbouring Raichur has reported a 38 per cent deficit.

The Tungabhadra, formed by the Tunga and Bhadra rivers originating at Gangamoola in the Western Ghats and merging at Koodli in Shivamogga, is a key water source for Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Agri dept warns of ‘drought’

Amid “drought-like conditions”, the Agriculture Department has advised farmers to sow rainfed crops only after receiving 5–6 cm of rainfall in red soils and 6–7.5 cm in black soils. It has also urged farmers in rainfed upland areas to prioritise low water-intensive crops such as maize, sorghum, ragi, navane, sesame, niger, saame and baragu.

It also issued an advisory on managing maize and groundnut – key crops – in the conditions.