Bengaluru, July 1 -- Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday offered the traditional "bagina" (offering to the river) to Cauvery river at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dam in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district, following a surge in inflow that filled the 84-year-old reservoir to its full capacity of 124.8 feet in June - a first since its construction.

According to officials from Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd (CNNL), this is the earliest the dam has ever reached full reservoir level since 1958, breaking the previous June record set on July 15 that year. The last time the dam reached capacity this early was on July 13, 1973. "From 1958, the level reached its optimum level 12 times in July; 15 times in August; four times in September; six tim...