Karnataka Govt Urges Farmers To Delay Sowing As Dams Run Dry Amid Severe Rainfall Deficit

Bengaluru: With Karnataka receiving the third-lowest June rainfall in the last 125 years and the dams being empty, the state government has appealed to the people not to resort to any agricultural activity until it rains and the dams start receiving water.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said that the cabinet had discussed the El Niño effect in threadbare detail, at a time when inflow into the state's dams has come to a standstill.

``This is going to be one of the worst droughts across the country. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned us on this issue. The farmers should not start agricultural activities, hoping to get water from the dams and reservoirs. The ministers in the state have been advised to plan to cater to the drinking water needs of every district and start procuring fodder for the cattle,'' he said.

Stating that the inflow of water to all the reservoirs across the Krishna and Cauvery river basins has declined, Shivakumar said that the present water storage in the dams was 20% of what it was last year. The water inflow was once brimming in the Tungabhadra Dam at Hospet, and a crest gate had broken due to water pressure, but the water storage is not even 20% of last year's level.

The present situation is likely to lead to a massive power shortage across the state. The government's Energy Department has been advised to depend more on alternative sources like thermal, coal, gas, and other sources, he added.