Tungabhadra dam gets new crest gates, but weak monsoon threatens paddy crop, survival of rice mills in Karnataka
Farmers in the Tungabhadra command area face a third consecutive year of uncertainty as a weak monsoon leaves reservoir levels critically low. Authorities have prioritized drinking water over irrigation, threatening the region's paddy crop and rice milling industry.
For thousands of farmers across the fertile Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal command area in the Raichur and Koppal districts of Karnataka, trouble has come for the third year in a row. Two years ago, they reluctantly gave up the second paddy crop after one of the crest gates of the Tungabhadra dam was washed away when the reservoir was full. In 2025 too, they sacrificed another crop as the government undertook the replacement of all the dam’s ageing crest gates.
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