drinking water supplies-Representational Image— DC File

KURNOOL: The rapidly declining water levels in the Srisailam reservoir, a lifeline for irrigation and drinking water in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, have triggered serious concerns over water availability in the coming months.


With no significant inflows for the past two months, the reservoir is nearing dead storage, raising fears over drinking water supplies and agricultural activities until the next monsoon.
The reservoir had 212tmc of water on October 26 last year, compared to just 56tmc on the same date this year. With the dead storage level considered to be around 53tmc, the available water reserves have reached a critical stage.

The government has already made it clear that irrigation water cannot be supplied to even a single acre this year. Officials are monitoring canals to prevent farmers from diverting water released for drinking purposes to agricultural fields.

Farmers have largely avoided cultivation except in areas supported by bore-wells. Rain-fed crops such as cotton and red gram have withered due to the lack of rainfall.

Kurnool collector Siri said irrigation water could not be supplied this year because of the shortage. “We would ensure that drinking water supplies are not affected. There will be no drinking water shortage in Kurnool and Nandyal districts,” she said.

The KC Canal, which normally supplies irrigation water to parts of Kurnool and Kadapa districts, has also been affected. The authorities are restricting releases to drinking water requirements to prevent the available reserves from being exhausted.
Kadapa irrigation chief engineer Balachandra Reddy said drinking water reserves were being maintained in the reservoirs. “Gandikota reservoir alone has 18tmc of water. We are making arrangements to ensure that there is no drinking water problem until June next year,” he said.

Once Srisailam reaches dead storage, water can be lifted only for a limited period and up to a certain level. Beyond that, pumping may no longer be feasible, further complicating the situation.

Farmer R Nagendra of Nandikotkur said he had not cultivated his land this year because water from the dam was unavailable. “We are facing difficulties. There has been no rainfall either, and even rain-fed agricultural lands remain barren,” he said.

Meanwhile, latest figures show that Telangana has utilised 106.02tmc of water for power generation, while AP used 11.132tmc for the same purpose, highlighting the differing levels of utilisation by the two states.


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