Barring Few, Most Water Tanks in Bandipur Tiger Reserve Report Low Storage
To tackle the situation, Bandipur Park officials have been monitoring the situation and staff have been told to keep solar powered bore-wells and bore-wells in operation and be ready to fill-up tanks in coming days
Bengaluru: The deficit rainfall in Karnataka this season has left water tanks, even the perennial ones in Bandipur National Park, short of water which in normal rainfall years would have filled to their capacities to quench the thirst of wild animals.
However, to tackle the situation, Bandipur Park officials have been monitoring the situation and staff have been told to keep solar powered bore-wells and bore-wells in operation and be ready to fill-up tanks in coming days.
Park Director L. Nandish told Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday of the 420 tanks in Bandipur, 95 are perennial water tanks and 325 others are dependent on rainfall to fill-up. Owing to deficit rainfall this season, Nandish, the Director of the Park, stated 32 tanks have water storage of 20 percent, 43 have 30 percent storage, 22 have 40 percent storage, 27 have 50 percent storage, 20 have water storage of 60 percent, 8 tanks have storage of 70 and 80 percent while 3 tanks have 90 percent of water storage.
Among the ranges of the Park, he said, Kundakere is the driest place and 35 tanks in the range have about 60 percent water storage and officials have been asked to repair and keep solar-powered bore-wells to fill-up the tanks while hoping the situation improves in coming days with adequate rainfall.
“We are monitoring the situation regularly and gathering details on availability of water in each of the tanks inside the Park. As of now, the situation is okay but if the same trend (deficit rainfall) continues then things would be difficult and before that instructions have been given to staff to repair and keep solar-powered bore-wells as well as bore-wells to counter the deficit rainfall,” said the Park Director. In Bandipur, water tanks whether big or small have been created based on catchment area, added the officer.
A wildlife activist said the previous year, water tanks in Bandipur had filled-up to their capacities and some overflowed but the situation looks grim at the moment.
