Speaking at a meeting of farmers from the catchment area of the reservoir here on Monday, he said that water would be released into the canals for more than 20 days so that farmers can celebrate Ugadi festival without any worry.
There is 2,305 hectares of catchment area and it requires about 0.20 tmcft of water. At present, there is 143.80 ft water in the reservoir of which 13.80 ft water can be released into the canals to help farmers protect their crops.
“The district administration has decided to release water into the canals keeping in view the problems of farmers. The district has not received ample rainfall in the last four years making it difficult to take up agricultural activities,” he added.
The reservoir has two main canals — one canal is 23 km long and the other 16 km long.
Farmer representatives Jayaramappa and Hunasehalli Shashidhar complained that the officers of the Irrigation Department had failed to follow the instructions of the higher authorities to clean the canals before water could be released.
Based on the complaint, the Deputy Commissioner instructed the officer to clean the canals before water is released and also take up repair works wherever necessary.

Source : The Hindu