Belagavi and Bagalkot farmers and fishermen warned not to venture into the Krishna

Officials have warned farmers and fishermen not to enter the Krishna or its tributaries owing to the rising water levels in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts.

Officials have warned farmers and fishermen not to enter the Krishna or its tributaries owing to the rising water levels in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts.

Over 72,286 cusecs of water were released into the Lal Bahadur Shashtri reservoir (Almatti dam) over the Krishna in Alamatti in Bagalkot district on Thursday. Officials increased the outflow to over 65,480 cusecs to avoid flooding in the backwater regions.

Heavy rains continued in parts of Maharashtra and Belagavi district on Thursday. However, the water release from Maharashtra was steady at 42,000 cusecs, officials said. This was because the Koyna dam in Maharashtra had only around 40% of its total capacity and the neighbouring State did not increase its outflow.

The Almatti dam had 99 tmcft of water including the dead storage of 17 tmcft. This is against the full reservoir level of 123 tmcft of water.

The Raja Lakhamagouda dam over the Ghataprabha at Hidkal in Belagavi district had 29 tmcft of water, against the 51 tmcft of gross capacity. This includes dead storage of 2 tmcft. It had an inflow of 13,829 cusecs and outflow of 426 cusecs.

The Navilu Teertha dam over the Malaprabha in Belagavi district had 15 tmcft of water against the full capacity of 37 tmcft. It had an inflow of 6,247 cusecs and outflow of 194 cusecs.