Karwar: With the rise in the storage of the Linganmakki reservoir in Shivamogga district threatening the villages downstream of it with floods, Uttara Kannada deputy commissioner, Dr Harish Kumar has strongly warned its officers against release of huge quantities of water that could place them at risk.
Seeing the dam, which can hold 1819 feet of water, almost full to the brim with a storage of 1818.80 feet on Thursday, Dr Harish Kumar, has asked the chief engineer (KPCL) of the reservoir to keep a check on its water level and ensure that it does not flood the villages below.
"During my visit to the villages downstream of the dam on September 3, the people there told me that their villages are flooded whenever water is released from Linganmakki with urgency. As the forecasts predict heavy rainfall in days to come, instead of
allowing the dam to fill to the brim, it is advisable to make sure it has some storage space left . The concept of the dam is also to control flood and not just power generation," he said in a letter to the officer.
Pointing out that release of water in a phased manner from all dams across the Kali River in Uttara Kannada had helped in controlling floods despite heavy rainfall in their catchment areas, he warned that if a huge quantity of water was released from Linganamakki and resulted in flooding the downstream villages, the chief engineer would be held responsible and a report would be submitted against him to the government for dereliction of duty.
