Engineering team studying silt deposit and examining if rivers have changed course

Kushalnagar:  Water level at Harangi Dam in Kodagu is slowly depleting. From its maximum capacity of 8.5 tmcft, the Dam level presently stands at 0.3 tmcft. While the current inflow (recorded this morning) to the dam is 103 cusecs, the outflow stands at 15 cusecs.

There is a huge amount of silt deposited inside the Dam and this is making the dam incapable of storing more water, especially during the crisis months. The alarming depletion of water in Harangi has caused concern among residents of Kushalnagar, Koodige and surrounding areas who fear that they will face severe water shortage during peak summer season.

Realising the urgent need of removing silt, a team of officials from Karnataka Engineering Research Station (KERS) have begun a survey of the river to ascertain the amount of silt deposited in the Dam. KERS was established in 1944 and is located at KRS Dam, Mandya.

Sources told SOM that during Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s visit to Kodagu a couple of months back, the issue of silt at Harangi Dam was brought to his notice and he had asked the KERS to conduct survey. The survey team has begun its task from Hattihole in Somwarpet taluk and is at present in the process of surveying Kotebetta River that is a tributary to Harangi. Apart from silt accumulation, the team will study the deposit of rocks along the river course and suggest remedial measures. Thousands of tonnes of sand and rocks mixed with trees and coffee estates were washed away from Hattihole and Madapura regions during the flash floods and massive landslides in August-September last year.

The team will examine if the river courses have changed due to landslides and suggest measures before the rainfall season this year. Also, thousands of tonnes of mud and top soil have accumulated in the backwaters. Residents say that usually, the backwaters don’t recede till the month of December or January as the Reservoir will be in its full capacity. This year, however, tonnes of mud have entered the backwaters and the silt accumulation is high. Due to this, water is present only near the Dam walls.

Speaking to SOM, Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan said, Harangi Dam and its backwaters hold over 2.5 tmcft of silt and it must be cleared before May. “If silt is cleared, more water can be stored and if not, there is more danger of floods washing away properties in this year’s rain,” he said.

Former President of Kodagu ZP Shantheyanda Ravi Kushalappa said, the residents of Kushalnagar, Koodige and surrounding areas were living under constant threat of floods. “The Government must act immediately and lift the silt. Otherwise we will be forced to call a Kodagu Bandh,” he warned.

Meanwhile, scores of fish at Harangi Reservoir are dying and are stuck to the silt at Herur backwaters. Many fish, weighing about four to five kilograms, were found dead due to lack of water with some live fish found in small waterholes in the river bed.