Inflow to KRS crosses 11,000 cusecs, orange alert for parts of Karnataka

Inflows are likely to continue as heavy rainfall is expected to continue in coastal and Malnad districts. The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for very heavy rainfall for the coastal region till July 9.

Other major reservoirs in the state, too, are seeing high inflows. At Almatti dam in Bagalkot district, the inflow was 59,306 cusecs, while at Tungabhadra dam in Vijayanagar district, the inflow was 50,715 cusecs. Reservoir level data shows that water levels at all the dams were higher than they were in July last year.

The dams of Cauvery basin – KRS, Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavathy – were currently holding a cumulative 65.45 TMC, compared to 35.59 TMC last year. The current storage in the six dams of Krishna Basin was 146.66 TMC. It was 73.57 TMC on the same date in 2023.

An active monsoon meant that rainfall in 10 of 31 districts in the state, such as Bengaluru Urban, Kolar, and Bengaluru Rural, among others, is classified as large excess – when actual rainfall is 60 per cent more than normal. Among the remaining districts, excess rainfall – actual rainfall is 20 to 59 per cent above normal – is recorded in 10, normal rainfall in eight, and deficit rainfall – 20 to 59 per cent below normal – in three districts.

Overall rainfall data from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre shows that between June 1 to July 6, Karnataka received 266 mm rainfall against a normal of 249 mm for the period – an excess of 7 per cent.