Vijayawada: Water released from Prakasam barrage

Vijayawada: Krishna district irrigation officials released floodwater into the sea from Prakasam barrage here on Saturday.

The officials opened 35 crest gates of Prakasam barrage and released some water into the sea and 5,500 cusecs floodwater into canals under Krishna delta. In the next 24 hours, the barrage is expected to receive another 20,000 cusecs of water due to the incessant rain.

However, the officials are not in a position to release water from the barrage to the canals further as the latter are full to their capacity now. Further, the fields have also been inundated.

Meanwhile, floodwater is overflowing on to the roads from Nakkala vaagu, Tholla vaagu and Nalla vaagu at Kanchikacherla, disrupting traffic. People living near Paritala tank faced anxious moments after the bund breached. However, MLA Tangirala Soumya and officials reached the tank and successfully plugged it.

This evening, there was some respite from the rain but Munneru reservoir is still receiving inflow from upper areas in Khammam district.

Krishna district irrigation department superintending engineer C. Ramakrishna said the water flow might continue for another day. "Farmers have requested us not to release floodwater from Prakasam barrage as their fields are already submerged due to incessant rain for the last 3-4 days. Farmers are busy preparing paddy seedbeds," he added.