Kurnool: Sangameswaram Siva temple in backwaters of Srisailam Reservoir has started going under water from Tuesday, with water entering the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine for the first time this season.
Incidentally, the temple disappears under water once the reservoir level rises to 850 feet. It remains submerged as long as the level of Srisailam is above 850 feet. It surfaces when the waters recede to 830 feet, disclosed temple priest Telakapalli Raghunath Sarma.
The temple, located near Muchumarri, is at the confluence of Krishna and Bhavanasi rivers on the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir.
Priest Raghunath Sarma said the temple's wooden Lingam – Sangameswaram – is believed to have been installed by Dharmaraja, the eldest of five Pandavas, after their visit to Srisailam Mallikarjuna temple. The temple is considered a place of high religious sanctity, as it is built at the confluence of seven rivers. Rivers Veni, Tunga, Bhadra, Bheemarathi, and Malapaharini are the other rivers whose waters join Krishna and Bhavanasi here.
Meanwhile, water level at Srisailam Reservoir has been rising continuously. It received 1,60,387 cusecs of water from upstream Jurala project. Telangana operated its power house by utilising 28,253 cusecs of water on Tuesday. The current level of reservoir is 833.40 feet against its total height of 885 feet. Its water storage is currently 53.180 tmc compared to total capacity of 215.80 tmc. The dead storage level is 834 feet.
Central Water Commission authorities said other major reservoirs in Krishna basin are also receiving good inflows. Alamatti in Karnataka received 39,396 cusecs of water while Narayanpur got 46,603 cusecs.
Discharge from Jurala dam through spillway is 1,31,030 cusecs while the powerhouse is discharging 29,357 cusecs. Both upper and Jurala powerhouses are producing power. While lower Jurala has 6 units of 40 MW each, upper Jurala has an installed capacity of 234 MW. Power generation at both the units is currently 7.2 million units, said an engineer at the Jurala power plant.
Srisailam gets its inflows from both Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers. Sunkesula barrage near Kurnool on Tungabhadra River has a capacity to store 1.2 tmc of water. Currently, there is no discharge from Sunkesula to Srisailam, officials stated.
