Additional water flow scheduled for Krishna Canal from April 1

Bagalkot: The Krishna Canal system in the Krishna command area has been scheduled to release additional water from April 1 to April 6. This decision, extending for a total of six days, was made during a meeting of the Krishna Upper Canal Irrigation Advisory Committee held at Vikas Soudha in Bengaluru, chaired by the Bagalkote District Minister R.B. Timmapur.

In the Krishna Upper Canal Scheme Irrigation Advisory Committee meeting for the Kharif season of 2024-25, it was decided to implement a 14-day flow and a 10-day closure policy, allowing for water supply until March 23, 2025.

As of March 14, 2025, the total available water in the Almatti and Narayanapura reservoirs for general use is 35.893 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), which is an increase of 5.711 TMC compared to the previous year’s availability of 30.182 TMC.

The required water quantity for necessary usage from March 14 to June 6, 2025, is 25.80 TMC.

Following the irrigation advisory committee’s decision on November 16, 2024, it was noted that farmers and public representatives are insisting on the release of water until April 20, 2025. Therefore, a meeting was convened on March 14, 2025.

The discussions centred around securing water for drinking, pond replenishment, and other uses necessary until June 30, 2025, while reserving 25.80 TMC for such uses.

It was decided that from March 15 to March 22, 2025, both reservoirs would release a total of 0.8 TMC daily to safeguard crops that had germinated during the Kharif season.

From March 23 to March 31, 2025, a closure of water flow will be implemented. The Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam has announced that based on the evaluation of the remaining water quantity, an additional release of 0.8 TMC per day for safeguarding crops will occur from April 1 to April 6, 2025. This strategy aims to ensure that farmers can protect their crops during the critical growth phase of the Kharif season.