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Godavari river in spate, Srisailam gates to open

Officials are releasing 18,000 cusecs of water from Taliperu project.

Hyderabad: Srisailam project has been witnessing a sharp increase in the water level due to heavy rains upstream and Karnataka releasing water downstream from Almatti and Narayanpur dams. About 80 per cent of the Srisailam project got filled with huge inflows in the past two days. The current reservoir level stands at 878 ft, which is just 8 feet short of full reservoir level.

If the reservoir level reaches 880 feet, the crest gates of Srisailam dam will be opened, said chief engineer Narayana Reddy. Heavy spells of rain have left the Godavari’s water level increasing rapidly in Warangal district.

Inflows at the dam site stood at 3,23,538 cusecs and outflow to Nagarjuna Sagar dam 97,000 cusecs, he said. Water storage at the reservoir stands at 178.353 tmc against the maximum capacity of 215 tmc which works out to 80 percent of the storage capacity. Sunkesula barrage in LKD at Kurnool recorded a level of 289.10 meters and spillway discharge was 1,84,712 cusecs while inflow from Tungabhadra was 1,87,066 cusecs. About 2,354 cusecs of water was discharged to Kadapa Kurnool canal. Kurnool district collector Mr S. Satyanarayana said that there was no flood threat to the district. Godavari water level too is rising at Bhadrachalam. It already crossed first warning and nearing second warning of 8 feet.

The river water level at Bhadrachalam crossed 43 feet of first warning in the wee hours of Friday and touched 47.6 feet by evening. Above 11.42 lakh cusecs are discharging from the River at Bhadrachalam. The statues of Rama, Sita and Laxman at Narachirala Pradesam at Parnasala were submerged as the Godavari back water coming to Sitavagu, a rivulet joining into the river. Sabari, a tributary of Godavari is also witnessed flood massive flood waters.

The officials are releasing 18,000 cusecs of water from Taliperu project. When the water level touched 53 feet, it will be considered as danger level. It is good news to Nagarjunasagar Project Left Canal farmers in Khammam district. The Government has decided to release water from Palair reservoir NSP ayacut from August 22. The increasing water levels in Srisailam will be directed to Nagarjunasagar reservoir.

Heavy spells of rain have left the Godavari River’s water level increasing rapidly in Warangal. On Friday the water had reached 10 meters at Kaleshwaram and the second warning had been issued. At Devadula project, Godavari River is flowing at a height of 85 meters. Meanwhile, the Kaleshwaram project works continue to be disturbed due to heavy rain. The cofferdam built near Tupakulagudem barrage got washed away on Wednesday night flooding the work area.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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