Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday requested Maharashtra Chief Minister to release 2 additional TMC of water simultaneously with the 2.365 TMC of water that is being released now.

In a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has expressed gratitude to Maharasthra for initiating the release of 2.365 TMC of water on April 10 from Koyna reservoir into Krishna river in a response to his letter dated March 9 for utilizing the water for drinking purpose for the people of Karnataka.

“I wish to inform you that 2.365 TMC of water let out into Krishna river will definitely cater to the needs of people and livestock up to Hipparagi barrage which is about 93 kms away from Maharashtra-Karnataka border. This gesture of Maharashtra will mitigate the problem of drinking water needs of Belgaum district of Karnataka state,’’ Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in the letter.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said Karnataka has been facing acute shortage of drinking water due to severe summer and drought conditions in 160 taluk out of 175 taluks and the districts of Bagalkot and Vijayapura in general and Vijayapura city in particular are facing severe shortage of drinking water during this summer.

“I request your kindself to direct the concerned to released additional 2.0 TMC of water from Koyna reservoir into the Krishna river. This 2. TMC of water need to be released simultaneously with the water that is being released now, so that this water with higher velocity will reach up to Korti-Kolhar barrage in Vijayapura district. Any water released at a later date will not reach Korti-Kolhar barrage due to loss of driving velocity and further percolation of water into river bed which defeats the very purpose for which water is being released. Hence, I once again request you to release another 2.0 TMc of water in addition to 2.365 TMC of water which is required to mitigate the drinking water needs of Bagalkot and Vijayapura district,’’ the chief minister said.