CHENNAI:Tamil Nadu is expected to start receiving water released from Karnataka’s Kabini reservoir by Monday, after the neighbouring state discharged around 12,000 cusecs following a sharp rise in inflows caused by heavy rainfall in the Cauvery catchment areas.

Water Resources Department (WRD) officials said the released water is expected to reach the Biligundlu gauging station on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border by Monday, then flow towards the Mettur reservoir, where it could arrive by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Officials, however, cautioned that the exact travel time would depend on river conditions.

Several stretches of the Cauvery basin between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have remained relatively dry in recent days, which could slow the movement of water.

A senior WRD official said evaporation and absorption losses along the river course would also have to be factored in, making it difficult to precisely calculate when the released water would reach Mettur.

The release comes amid the continuing Cauvery water-sharing dispute between the two states and after sustained rainfall substantially improved storage in Karnataka’s major reservoirs.

Kabini reservoir, which has a storage capacity of 19,516 million cubic feet (mcft), had only 26.59 per cent storage on July 1, when inflow stood at 1,988 cusecs. The storage increased to 61.63 per cent by July 15 following continuous rainfall in its catchment. By July 31, Kabini had reached 82.65 per cent of its capacity, while inflow increased to 9,133 cusecs.

Tamil Nadu officials said Karnataka had delayed releasing water despite directions from the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee and Cauvery Water Management Authority. Inflows into the Krishna Raja Sagara reservoir have also increased following heavy rainfall across the Cauvery basin.

With Kabini and KRS approaching their full storage levels, further releases could become necessary if substantial inflows continue. Any increase in releases is expected to provide relief to Tamil Nadu, particularly farmers in the Cauvery delta who are closely watching water availability ahead of the cropping season.

Meanwhile, the Mettur reservoir held 35.774 tmcft of water on Saturday, accounting for 38.27 per cent of its total capacity of 93.470 tmcft. WRD officials said reservoir levels and upstream releases were being closely monitored.
--IANS