Karnataka being cheated of its share of Tungabhadra dam water?

BALLARI: Recent documents made available to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on water usage from the Tungabhadra dam, an inter-state project, by the Tungabhadra board, has raised several questions about water being made available to Karnataka. The project is under central government control.

As per the water-sharing agreement, Karnataka can use 65 per cent of the water for irrigation while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (earlier part of undivided Andhra Pradesh) can use the remaining 35 per cent. While Karnataka irrigates 9.25 lakh acres with its share of the water, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana irrigate 7.12 lakh acres from their share.

With its 65 per cent share, Karnataka can irrigate 20 lakh acres while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana can irrigate 5.25 lakh acres. This raises questions about the Tungabhadra board’s role in denying adequate water to Karnataka.

The dam has a capacity to store 105 tmcft of water of which 18 tmcft is claimed to be lost to evaporation. Interestingly, at no other reservoir in the state, so much water is lost to evaporation, raising questions about whether the dam board is providing accurate information.

Another aspect is that 5-6 tmcft of water is claimed to be lost to seepage and it is suspected that this water too is going to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.