75% Karnataka lakes either dry or fast drying up

BENGALURU: Nearly 75% the lakes and tanks in 31 districts of Karnataka have either dried up or will dry up in a few days and Tumakuru and Belagavi are the worst hit, following back-to-back failure of southwest and northeast monsoons. Given that the next monsoon is still two months away, the fast drying up of these waterbodies is likely to worsen the prevailing water crisis across Karnataka.
According to the minor irrigation department, which supervises the upkeep of these lakes and waterbodies, of the 3,685 lakes in Karnataka, over 25% (964) of waterbodies have been completely dry and another 50% (1846) have 10-30% water which could last only a few weeks due to high evaporation rate.

Minor irrigation minister NS Boseraju told TOI they are pinning hopes on the summer rain. "In the whole of Karnataka, only 10 waterbodies (in the south, and none in north) are filled to the brim as they are covered under the lift irrigation scheme. Otherwise, all waterbodies that get inflow during monsoons have fully dried up or are drying. We do hope the summer showers that have been lashing the state for the past one week intermittently could fill these waterbodies."
All the 10 lakes that are brimming with water are in southern districts and no lake in North Karnataka is 100% full. Bengaluru city tops the list with six lakes filled to their capacity.
Among the districts, Tumakuru (151 lakes) and Belagavi (184 lakes) have the highest number of completely dried-up lakes. "Even though parts of both districts are irrigated by Hemavathi and Krishna river, respectively, major parts of these districts are arid and dependent on these lakes, tanks for their water security. While Tumakuru has 371 lakes, Belagavi has 290 lakes - the highest for any district. These waterbodies are crucial not only for these districts but also for the adjoining regions. These waterbodies largely help recharge groundwater table in the region," explained a senior engineer from the minor irrigation department.
Yet another senior official said the average evaporation rate has increased considerably due to the alarming increase in the maximum temperature. "Until Dec, we saw evaporation of about 6 to 7 mm of water on a daily basis. However, this increased constantly during Feb, March and April due to soaring temperatures and intense heat wave conditions resulting in fast drying up of water bodies," an official remarked.