The State government on Sunday decided to release 2.75 tmcft water from Almatti and Narayanpura reservoirs to save chilli crop in the Upper Krishna basin.
“Water will be released immediately. Water has to flow 75 km and is expected to reach in two or three days,” Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar told presspersons here on Sunday. He said that a meeting was held with district in-charge Ministers and legislators of Kalaburagi, Raichur, Bagalkot, Yadgir districts. “They explained the situation and urged the water to be released. Despite government’s request not to raise crops in severe drought conditions, some farmers have cultivated chilli instead of paddy. If this crop is destroyed, the estimated loss will be around ₹2,000 crore.”
Mr. Shivakumar, who holds the Water Resources portfolio, said: “To protect our farmers, we have decided to release 2.75 tmcft of water for one last time. Protesting farmers and legislators should now ensure that the water should be used only for chilli crops. We have released the water hoping that the farmers will utilise the water in a responsible manner,” he said.
“Earlier we had protected Mandya farmers. Later when there was an issue with Bhadra water, we had resolved that problem too. Now the chilli growers in the Upper Krishna basin are also being protected. No water will be released for agricultural purposes,” he said.
When asked about the water storage situation, he said: “Almatti and Narayanpur dams together have 47 tmcft of water. About 37 tmcft of water is needed for drinking water and 3 tmcft for other purposes. 1.5 tmcft of water will be lost during water flow. Now we have decided to release 2.75 tmcft water due to the demand from this region.”
He said that the responsibility of monitoring water usage will be with people’s representatives and farmers’ organisations. “You have to make good use of water. We have also instructed our officials,” he said.
On the proposal over river-linking proposal, Mr. Shivakumar said, “This is a Central government project. This is a big project, and we should not deviate from the issue we are facing now. A team of 31 parliamentarians from Centre is coming to inspect Cauvery today and tomorrow. Our irrigation problems will also be discussed.”
