Karnataka Withholds Tungabhadra Water for Kharif Crops Due to Poor Rainfall
The Karnataka government has decided not to release water from the Tungabhadra reservoir into its Right Bank and Left Bank canals for the current kharif season. The decision comes as a result of insufficient storage caused by deficient rainfall in the reservoir's catchment area.
In a notification issued on Thursday, S.B. Malligawad, Superintending Engineer of the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL) and Member-Secretary of the Tungabhadra Project and Vijayanagara Canals Irrigation Advisory Committee, stated that the reservoir has not received adequate inflows due to ongoing rainfall deficits. Consequently, water cannot be released through the canal network for irrigation during the monsoon season.
According to the state government's directions, the available water in the reservoir will be reserved exclusively for drinking water requirements. The department has appealed to farmers in the Tungabhadra command area to cooperate given the prevailing water scarcity.
The notification added that if the region receives sufficient rainfall in the coming days and the reservoir fills adequately, the Irrigation Advisory Committee will convene to review the storage position and decide on releasing water for agricultural purposes.
The decision comes at a critical time when farmers across the Tungabhadra command area are awaiting irrigation water for the kharif season amid delayed and deficient monsoon rainfall. According to the latest data released by the Tungabhadra Dam authorities on Thursday, the reservoir held only 9.313 tmcft of water against its full storage capacity of 105.788 tmcft. The water level stood at 1,587.83 feet, far below the full reservoir level of 1,633 feet.
The reservoir recorded no inflow during the previous 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. on Thursday, while an average of 176 cusecs was being released through the canal system. In contrast, on the corresponding day last year, the reservoir contained 77.144 tmcft of water and received 32,767 cusecs of inflow.
The notification is significant as it comes shortly after the successful replacement of all 33 crest gates of the dam, a major engineering exercise undertaken after the collapse of one of the original gates during the 2024 monsoon. The new gates have restored the reservoir to its designed storage capacity and enhanced the safety and reliability of the decades-old structure.
The newly installed crest gates were recently inaugurated jointly by Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Despite the upgraded infrastructure, the reservoir continues to await substantial monsoon inflows, with irrigation releases remaining contingent on a significant improvement in rainfall across the Tungabhadra catchment area.
