KRS dam hits historic June high after 83 years, CM to offer ‘baagina’ | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Chief minister Siddaramaiah will offer baagina at Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dam Monday (June 30), when the reservoir will reach its full capacity of 124.4 feet — a milestone not recorded in June since 1941.The ceremonial event will take place at Srirangapatna taluk, Mandya district. Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, ministers, and local MLAs will attend the event. Priests are scheduled to conduct the ritual at 12.15pm.”Typically, baagina is offered at the end of July or in Aug. But due to a good monsoon this year, the reservoir has already filled in June,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a statement.Baagina consists of a sari, blouse fabric, flowers, fruits, bangles, arishina-kumkuma (turmeric and vermilion), and rice placed on a bamboo mora. After the offering, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, who heads the water resources department, will offer prayers at Cauvery statue on the dam premises.On Friday, water level stood at 121ft, but authorities discharged 51,110 cusecs, down from 55,000 cusecs on Thursday day. With an inflow of 52,829 cusecs, authorities say the dam will be filled when Siddaramaiah visits on Monday to offer baagina.This is the seventh time in the past decade that baagina will be offered. It is Siddaramaiah’s fourth. He performed the ritual in 2013 and 2014. Though he returned to the helm in 2023, a failed monsoon kept the dam from filling up. Former chief minister D Devaraj Urs, in 1979, was the first to offer baagina, kicking off a tradition that has endured.Meanwhile, Kabini reservoir saw a slight increase in both inflow and outflow. On Thursday, the water level was 2,279.1 feet with an inflow of 24,042 cusecs and an outflow of 19,583 cusecs. By Friday, the level rose to 2,279.4 feet, with inflow and outflow increasing to 31,847 and 30,000 cusecs, respectively.
