KRS dam across river Cauvery reaches 100% capacity, reservoir level at maximum height

Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) and Kabini reservoirs reach full capacity, prompting flood warnings downstream; cumulative outflow at 55,000 cusecs.

The Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) across the river Cauvery attained the full reservoir level (FRL) of 124.80 ft on Wednesday (July 24) in a development that will cheer the farmers in the downstream region of the dam.

The reservoir level was hovering at 124.10 ft at 8 a.m. and storage was 48.475 tmc ft against the gross capacity of 49.45 tmc ft. The rate of inflow was 31,852 cusecs and the outflow was reduced to 11,911 cusecs. This helped impound additional water to ensure that the reservoir reached the FRL of 124.80 ft by late afternoon, taking the storage to 100% of the installed capacity. The reservoir level on the same day last year was 95 ft and the storage on that day was 19.14 tmc ft.

Sources in the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL) said the outflow from the reservoir had also been stepped up to 30,000 cusecs. The CNNL has issued a flood warning to people living downstream of the reservoir to move to safer locations.

CNNL said the surplus water from the reservoir, varying from 30,000 cusecs to 50,000 cusecs, would be released ‘’at any time’’ and this could be further stepped up. Hence, people in the downstream and those living on the river banks were advised to shift to safer places and take all precautionary measures for safety and security of their lives and property.

The Kabini reservoir in H.D. Kote is also full and the level was 2,282.35 ft against the FRL of 2,284 ft. The gross storage capacity of the dam is 19.52 tmc ft against which the available storage is 18.45 tmc ft. The rate of inflow into the reservoir was 18,147 cusecs and the outflow was 25,000 cusecs.

The cumulative outflow from both the KRS and Kabini is around 55,000 cusecs and the quantum of water released since June 1 from both the reservoirs is 50.34 tmc ft, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre. (KSNDMC).