Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has requested Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis to release additional 2 tmc water from the Koyna reservoir to the Krishna river after releasing 2.365 tmc water on April 10.
Siddaramaiah told Fadnavis that the extra 2 tmc needs to be released simultaneously with the 2.365 tmc as the water needs to have high velocity to reach the Korti-Kolhar barrage in Vijayapura district.
"Any water released at a later date will not reach Korti-Kolhar barrage due to loss of driving velocity and further percolation into river bed which defeats the very purpose for which water is being released," Siddaramaiah wrote to Fadnavis in a letter, a copy of which is with the International Business Times, India.
Bagalpura and Vijayapura districts and Vijayapura city are facing extreme water shortage this summer, he wrote. Karnataka has drought in 160 of 175 taluks, he added.
The earlier water released will help people and livestock up to Hipparagi barrage, which is 93 km from Karnataka-Maharashtra border. The shortage of drinking water in Belgaum district will be alleviated by Maharashtra's move.
Maharashtra released water to Karnataka after the southern state agreed to release water from the Almatti dam to cater to the needs of Solapur and others parts of Maharashtra. They have not decided on the volume of water to be released.
The water shortage in Karnataka is so acute that the Water Resources Minister MB Patil recommended water rationing for the city of Bangalore. He had said that without monsoon, there will be drinking water for India's Silicon Valley only till June 2015.
