With inflows to Krishna River from both Jurala Project and Sunkesula dam, irrigation department officials lifted crest gates of Srisailam dam to release flood water into Nagarjuna Sagar Project on Monday.
Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of the dam is at 885 feet while the current reservoir level is at 879.90 feet. The full water storage capacity of Srisailam is 215.80 TMCs while the current water storage stands at 182.60 TMCs. The inflows to the reservoir stood at 4.36 lakh cusecs.
With huge inflows from upstream, irrigation officials lifted 3-4 gates of the Srisailam reservoir at 4 pm on Monday and released the water downstream.
Officials have issued warnings to the people in low lying areas to be alert and began power production at left and right power houses.
Visitors queued up at the dam in large numbers to watch the scenes of the gates being lifted and water released into Nagarjuna Sagar, leading to a traffic jam.
Meanwhile, Tunga Bhadra River, a major subsidiary of Krishna River, is also in spate releasing nearly 1.4 lakh cusecs of water into Srisailam.
It is the first major dam on Krishna River in both Telugu states. Srisailam project generally would get heavy inflows in the last week of July but now its close to FRL level. Nagarjuna Sagar is another major dam downstream with a storage capacity of 312.05 TMCs of water. It has a flood cushion of 180.21 TMC while it is currently holding 131.84 TMCs.
With Srisailam nearing FRL level, hopes of Nagarjuna Sagar also reaching up to FRL level has been revived. Water for two crops in the Krishna delta would be guaranteed if Nagarjuna Sagar reaches FRL level. As only two months of the monsoon are left, all irrigation projects on Krishna are likely to get filled up.
This comes after weeks of drought like conditions and since Srisailam reservoir is receiving significant inflows, it raised hopes among farmers of the Rayalaseema region. Rayalaseema projects will get water from Pothireddypadu head regulator, as per rules. A severe rainfall deficit last year meant there was no water release for the KC Canal.
Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of the dam is at 885 feet while the current reservoir level is at 879.90 feet. The full water storage capacity of Srisailam is 215.80 TMCs while the current water storage stands at 182.60 TMCs. Andhra Pradesh States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
