2 major reservoirs in AP almost full after several months

2 major reservoirs in AP almost full after several months Amaravati, Aug 11 (PTI): Andhra Pradesh has been a major beneficiary of nature's bounty this season as the two major reservoirs on river Krishna Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar have almost been filled to capacity after virtually being dry for several months. Thanks to copious rains that are still continuing in the upper riparian states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, bountiful water is flowing in the river, filling up all major reservoirs along its course.

Heavy discharges from rivers Tungabhadra and Bhima are also adding to the flood surge in Krishna. Consequently, the floodwater is being discharged both from Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar to the irrigation and drinking water systems under their command, bringing cheer to the farmers in the two Telugu states, AP and Telangana.

When the 'water year' began on June 1 this year, the water level at Srisailam was only 807 feet against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 885 feet with just 32.60 tmc ft of water that was way below the dead storage. On Sunday, the level touched 881 feet with a storage of 193.41 tmc ft, against the FRL of 215.81 tmc ft.

In fact, the storage was reduced from 202 tmc ft on Sunday as more flood from Tungabhadra and Bhima, apart from its own inflows from Maharashtra and Karnataka were expected to keep the flow steady in Krishna. As much as 7,78,848 cusecs is being discharged from Srisailam to different irrigation channels and downstream Nagarjuna Sagar.

"Inflows into Srisailam are predicted to continue for the next week to ten days as the flood situation in Maharashtra and Karnataka is still continuing. Besides, 2.20 lakh cusecs is being discharged from Tungabhadra that will reach Srisailam in the next couple of days," C Narayana Reddy, Chief Engineer (Projects) of the Water Resources Department, said.

The combined effect of floods in Maharashtra, Karnataka and discharges from Tungabhadra and Bhima might result in an inflow of about nine lakh cusecs into Srisailam, he said. Reddy said the Water Resources Department initiated action to consume about one lakh cusecs through different systems for the needs of four Rayalaseema districts and SPS Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh and Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda in neighbouring Telangana.

Surplus water is being released into Nagarjuna Sagar after power generation in the right and left bank generating stations. The Nagarjuna Sagar Project Chief Engineer Narasimha pointed out that last year the flood was just about two lakh cusecs, while it touched over seven lakh cusecs this year.

"We are hence releasing water from the right and left canals of Nagarjuna Sagar for the Kharif 2019 ayacut in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana," he said. NSP currently holds 198 tmc ft of water as against its FRL of 312 tmc ft, with an inflow of 7.47 lakh cusecs.

The NSP is expected to get filled up to capacity by Tuesday, given the current inflow. Meanwhile, the flood fury in river Godavari has abated with the inflow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowaleswaram falling to 8,95,969 cusecs at 7 PM on Sunday.

All warning signals here have been taken off as the flood discharge started receding..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)