Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary flooded; Visitors entry barred

• The bird sanctuary is home to as many as 60,000 migratory birds
• Water levels of the Cauvery flowing above high flood level
• Water released from the Kabini and KRS reservoirs

Mandya: After water was released from the Krishnarajasagara reservoir, parts of Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Mandya were left inundated on Wednesday August 15^th. Located on the banks of the Cauvery River, the bird sanctuary is home to as many as 60,000 migratory birds.

“Many islands in the sanctuary have been submerged and we have decided to close down operations,” said an official at the sanctuary. Visitors were stopped from entering the sanctuary, since Tuesday. As a precaution, boat rides too have been stopped since August 9^th.

After heavy rains forced the Karnataka government to release water from the Kabini and KRS reservoirs, a flood alert was issued for areas along the banks of the River Cauvery. In total, over 1,20,000 cusecs of water was released from the two reservoirs.

The water levels of the Cauvery in Mysuru district were flowing above high flood level (HFL), informed the Central Water Commission on Wednesday morning. At Chunchunkatte, the water level was recorded at 757.95ft while the HFL is at 757.45ft, while in T Narsipur the water level was 640.64ft while the HFL is 642.40.

On Tuesday, authorities decided to release close to 1 lakh cusecs of water from KRS alone to cope with the increasing inflow into the reservoir. However, this caused a ripple effect in the downstream,  with low-lying areas being inundated and also flooding several fields along the river as well as the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary.

Since the start of the week, heavy rainfall has been witnessed in the state with the coastal areas being the most affected. The rains have caused landslides and inundated many areas resulting in the suspension of train and bus services and disrupting normal life.