Water released from Nugu, set to benefit 8,000 hectares

Water has been released from the three canals of the Nugu reservoir near Saragur in H D Kote taluk, about 60 km from Mysore.

Water was released on August 1 and will continue to be released till November 13 over the four duration cycles. It will benefit the 2013 kharif crops from the dam's upper, left and right bank canals, said a release here.

The release of the waters will depend upon the dam's storage levels and rains, said the Kabini Canal Division Executive Engineer, asking the farmers to cultivate short-term paddy to economise on the water.

As the water release would be in installments, it would be for 30 days from August 1 to August 30, again for 15 days each from September 10 to September 24, October 5 to October 19, and October 30 to November 13, stopping the flow of water for 10 days each in between.

The water depletion level generally varies from the months of August to October, and hence the release of water from the canals will be stopped fully from November 14.

The release of water will benefit 1,276 hectares under Nugu left bank, 792 hectares under right bank and 5,261 hectares under upper canal of the 117 feet dam surrounded by small hills which make the scene picturesque. The dam was built by Sir M Visvesvaraya.