Bengaluru: With the State reeling under severe drought, Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil on Monday made it clear that there is just enough water in the reservoirs to meet the drinking water needs of citizens till June 15.

Addressing presspersons after a review of the water storage position in the State’s reservoirs, the Minister appealed to farmers to voluntarily stop using irrigation pump sets as “going by the current reservoir levels, the State cannot afford water for the second crop”. He also appealed to the people to use water judiciously.

The State has also requested Maharashtra to release 2 tmcft water from the Krishna. “We have been buying water from Maharashtra every year for villages in Belagavi district. However, this year, Maharashtra has put a condition that water will be released only after we release 1.2 tmcft from Indi Branch Canal to Sholapur of that State. Karnataka owes 1.2 tmcft water to Maharashtra, but we will be able to release it only after May,” he said. Mr. Patil said he had requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to speak to his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis in this regard. A team of senior officials will also visit Maharashtra and try to convince the Chief Secretary there, he added.