At a time when Cauvery basin districts are facing a severe water crisis, two projects— one to provide 500 MLD of additional Cauvery water to Bengaluru under Cauvery fourth stage second phase project and the Kabini first phase water project to supply 60 MLD water daily to Mysore— are getting launched at the same time in November, which will pose a tough challenge to officials managing KRS and Kabini reservoirs.
The water level at reservoirs in the Cauvery catchment area, which had dropped by 12 TMC from 70 TMC on September 28 to 58 TMC on October 8, has since increased with the water level at KRS increasing from 104.92 feet to 107.77 feet on Sunday due to good rains. According to highly placed sources, half TMC water is required daily from KRS to meet irrigational and drinking water needs. The water in the dam will suffice for only 40 to 60 days.
The water level at Kabini has risen from 2258.50 feet to 2265.32 as on Sunday, with the reservoir now having 10 TMC water. What could trigger a shortage is the commissioning of the Cauvery fourth stage second phase project in Bengaluru. To add to problems, Kabini water project phase one has already been commissioned after more than a year’s delay with the trial run beginning on October 22. The project is likely to start operations from November first week.
When contacted, sources at KRS as well as BWSSB said the water board has been allotted 19 TMC Cauvery water but is now drawing only 12 TMC or 900 MLD. With the Cauvery fourth stage second phase on, an additional 500 MLD will be pumped to Bengaluru which will be nearly 7 TMC taking the BWSSB requirement to 1400 MLD.
But BWSSB is expected to increase its water consumption phasewise by pumping out only100 MLD additional water initially and increasing it steadily by adding 100 MLD every month. By the time BWSSB starts taking away the entire 500 MLD it requires for the new project, the pre-monsoon showers would have begun in the Cauvery basin. So the additional supply to Bengaluru is not likely to be affected, the sources claimed.
At Kabini, highly placed officials claimed they are already giving 2.58 MLD to BWSSB with 60 MLD pumped every day.