The southwest monsoon, which showed signs of gaining vigour in Kodagu last week, has slackened. Rains have abated in the Cauvery catchment area and surrounding districts of Karnataka during the last 24 hours.
Consequently, the inflow into reservoirs has receded. There are concerns whether the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) would attain the full level of 124.80 feet this year. This will have a direct bearing on sugarcane and paddy cultivators downstream of the dam.
Rainfall during the 24 hour period ending at 8.30 a.m. on July 12 in Kodagu was 5.80 mm. This is a sharp decline from around 83.30 mm of rainfall that the district received on July 7.
Bhagamandala experienced partial submergence due to torrential rains last weekend. The area received around 227.60 mm of rainfall in a 24 hour period on July 7, but recorded only 5 mm of rainfall on July 12.
The slackening is uniform across Kodagu district. The average rainfall in Madikeri taluk was 12.90 mm. It has received a cumulative rainfall of 1,302.99 mm since January compared to 2,046.16 mm during the same period last year.
Somwarpet received 1.27 mm of rain on July 12. The cumulative rainfall since January is 590.15 mm against 1,110.81 mm during the same period last year.
Virajpet received 3.24 mm of rainfall on July 12. The cumulative rainfall since January is 600.75 mm against 1,106.32 during the same period last year.
The rate of inflow into the KRS has ebbed from a high of nearly 15,000 cusecs last week to 4,976 cusecs on July 12. Though the water level increased from 82 feet on July 8 to 88.10 feet on July 12, any further increase will be slowly due to reduced inflow. The water level on the same day last year was 122.56 feet against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 124.80 feet. The live storage in the dam was 14.84 tmc ft, or only 30% of the gross storage capacity of 45.93 tmc ft.
The situation in Kabini is also not encouraging. The inflow into the reservoir at Beechanahalli in H.D. Kote has drastically reduced due to slackening of rains in the catchment areas in the neighbouring State of Kerala. The rate of inflow in the Kabini reservoir was 2,856 cusecs on July 12, and the reservoir level was 2,268.93 feet against the FRL of 2,284 feet. The storage level during the same day last year was 2,282.51 feet.
The rate of inflow into the Hemavathi reservoir was 2,843 cusecs on July 12 and the live storage was 15.70 tmc ft, which is 42% of the gross storage capacity of 37.10 tmc ft. The reservoir level was 2,892.84 feet against the FRL of 2,922 feet.
Inflow into the Harangi had reduced to 945 cusecs. The reservoir level was 2,840.17 feet against the FRL of 2,859 feet. The live storage was 4.18 tmc ft against the gross capacity of 8.50 tmc ft.
