With reservoirs in the state filling up at a quick pace, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to offer the traditional ‘Bagina’ to Krishnarajasagar (KRS) dam on Monday. This is the first time in the history of the 84-year-old dam located in Mandya district that it has been filled to capacity in June itself.
On Saturday, water storage at KRS was 47.31 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) against a full storage level of 49.45 TMC. The dam, meanwhile, continued to enjoy heavy inflow, receiving around 73,811 cusecs on Saturday and 52,829 cusecs on Friday. While dam authorities had maintained outflows on par with inflows till Friday, it was reduced on Saturday and Sunday in anticipation of the Bagina event.
The Bagina ritual involves offering a saree, flowers, fruits, bangles, turmeric-vermilion (arishina-kumkuma), and rice placed on a bamboo tray.
Siddaramaiah will also offer Bagina at Kabini dam, upstream of KRS reservoir, located at HD Kote, Mysuru district. Currently, the water level at the dam is at 692.63 feet (above sea level) compared to its full capacity of 694.74 feet. The current capacity of dams in the state is three times the capacity of water held during the same period last year. This was due to the heavy spell of rainfall recorded since the second week of May, followed by the early onset of monsoons.
Like the dams in South Karnataka, those in the North are also enjoying heavy inflows. Almatti dam across the River Krishna was receiving an inflow of 1.10 lakh cusecs, and had a current storage of 85.19 TMC against a full storage of 123.08 TMC. Water levels at the dam are expected to surge in the coming week due to the heavy showers in Krishna’s catchment area in Maharashtra.
After two weeks of heavy showers in parts of Karnataka, there will be some let-up during the coming week. Despite the intense rainfall in the Coastal and Malnad regions of the state, parts of the state, such as Bengaluru Urban and surrounding districts, have received deficient showers.