Water level in KRS a cause for comfort

Mysore, May 18 (UNI) The water level in the Krishnaraja Sagar Reservoir (KRS) on River Cauvery, the main source of water for Bangalore, Mysore, Mandya and other places for both irrigation and drinking, stood at 104.31 feet yesterday, the highest during peak summer season since 1980s.

KRS Executive Engineer Vijya Kumar told UNI the water level was comfortable this season as on the same day last year it was only 68.75 feet, just four feet above the dead storage mark of 64 feet which was generally reached during the last week of April. The full reservoir level (FRL) was 124.80 feet.

Being the major source of drinking water for lakhs of people in Mysore and Bangalore Region, this was good news for the residents of the two cities. As water was available in plenty, the authorities were confident of meeting the demand of both domestic and agriculture consumers.

Mr Vijaya Kumar attributed the comfortable storage position to good monsoon and unseasonal rainfall. The dam maintained the FRL for more then three months at a stretch while meeting its obligation to the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

The usable water or live storage in the reservoir used to be around four tmc ft during April/May but it was around 18 tmc ft at present.

With the Meteorological Department announcing the Southwest Monsoon this year would hit the coastal region a week ahead of schedule, the authorities here were bracing up to attain another record with KRS touching FRL by end June.

UNI BSP SY US1713