Bhadra IAC asks farmers not to cultivate in command area

The Irrigation Advisory Committee of the Bhadra Project has directed farmers in the command area of the Bhadra reservoir not to cultivate any crop, citing low water storage caused by deficit rainfall.

In a communication released on Saturday, the committee’s member-secretary said the State government, in an order issued on Friday, had directed dam authorities to use the water available in the dam only for drinking purposes. Earlier, on June 30, the advisory committee had said in a communication that water could not be released into the reservoir’s right and left bank canals for the kharif crop because of the rainfall deficit.

As of Saturday morning, the water level stood at 2,110 ft, against the full reservoir level of 2,158 ft. Against the gross capacity of 71.54 tmcft, the gross storage stood at 25.54 tmcft. The inflow was 2,108 cusecs. The cumulative inflow since June 1 has been just 1.22 tmcft. Last year on the same day, the gross storage was 49.84 tmcft, the water level stood at 2,139.08 ft, and the inflow was 21,982 cusecs.