Immediate release of water from Srisailam to Nagarjuna Sagar unlikely, say officials

Even though heavy rains are lashing the catchment areas of River Krishna it “may not be possible” to release water from Srisailam to Nagarjuna Sagar Project immediately.

The Water Resources Department (WRD) officials expect that the water levels at Srisailam dam might touch 860 feet if the current inflows were to be considered any indicators.

As per the WRD officials, 1.44 lakh cusecs of water was being discharged from Karnataka’s Almatti dam and that water has been reaching Srisialam dam in Andhra Pradesh.

The present storage is 47.13 tmc as against last year’s storage (on the same date), which was 33.62 tmc. The water level is 827.60 tmc against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 885 feet. During the same period last year, the water level stood at 808.80 feet. 

When contacted, Engineer-in-Chief Narayana Reddy said: “We have to assess the situation for another week to release water from Srisailam to the Nagarjuna Sagar project. We expect the water level would touch 860 feet if the current inflows at Srisailam were considered.”

Consequently, releasing water to the Nagarjuna Sagar and the projects downstream would not be possible immediately. The WRD officials are releasing water for irrigation purpose with the available water at Prakasam Barrage, which is at the tail-end project, on River Krishna. 

The entire ayacuts of the Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and West Godavari districts, which comprise the Krishna Delta, depend upon the water storage of the Srisailam Project. Unless the project is filled, there will be no releases to the Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala projects.

The flood waters reaching Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage constructed across River Godavari crossed 5 lakh cusecs. The water levels at the Barrage are close to the FRL, which is 4.75 feet. The flood water discharged from the Polavaram Irrigation Project was 10.95 lakh cusecs. The water level at Bhadrachalam in Telangana stand at 49.10 feet and the second warning is in force. The water released from Bhadrachalam reaches the Polavaram project. 

In Pennar Basin, the situation hasn’t improved compared to last year. While the FRL at Veligodu Balancing Reservoir is 868.44 feet, the present level is 818.13 feet. During the same period last year, it was 822.28 feet. The water stored at the Barrage is 1.06 tmc as against the total capacity of 16.95 tmc. Similarly, at Somasila, the water available is 9.72 tmc against the total capacity of 78 tmc. The water level stands at 274.25 feet against the FRL of 330 tmc. At Kandaleru, the water stored is 6.27 tmc against the capacity of 68.03 tmc, officials say.