Bengaluru, May 3 (IANS): Karnataka has urged Maharashtra to release water from its reservoirs to Krishna and Bhima rivers to meet the drinking needs of its people in the state's northern region, an official said on Saturday.

"Chief Minister B.S. Yedyiurappa has written to his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray to release 3 tmc (thousand million cubic) feet of water from Koyna and Warna reservoirs into Krishna river and 3 tmc from Ujjani dam to Bhima river that flow into Karnataka from the neighbouring state," the official told IANS, citing the letter.

With the onset of summer, Bagalakot, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadigiri districts face acute shortage of drinking water as they are in the country's second most arid region in the Deccan Plateau after Rajasthan.

"Maharashtra has been generous to release water from its reservoirs to meet the drinking needs in our drought-prone northern districts," recalled Yediyurappa in the letter.

As one of the largest dams in the neighbouring state's south-west region, Koyana reservoir is located across its river at Mahabaleshwar in Satara district, while Warna dam is situated in the catchment areas of Sangli, Satara, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri districts.

Ujjani dam is located across Bhima, a tributary of Krishna river in Solapur district of Maharashtra.