BASAR: Irrigation department officials released water early from the Sriramsagar project (SRSP) at Pochampad in Nizamabad district. This has resulted in the project having less water than last year.
Besides, water flow between Babli project at Dharmabad taluka in Nanded district and SRSP was considerably lower. The temple town Basar has also witnessed a fall in the water level at the bathing ghats on the Godavari.
The SRSP has water till 1,071.3 feet, compared to last year’s 1,074.80 ft. Last year on the same day SRSP had 39.239 tmc ft of water, which has now plummeted to 31.636 tmc ft.
Usually, SRSP officials release water for the yasangi crop at the end of March. However, they did so on March 20 as due to a dry spell, farmers from north Telangana districts demanded an early release of water. As a result, 3500 cusecs of water for Kakatiya canal, 800 cusecs for Saraswathi canal, 300 cusecs for Laxmi canal and 486 cusecs for Alisagar lift irrigation scheme were released.
On the other hand, 152 cusecs of water is being released to serve the drinking water needs of people in undivided Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts through Mission Bhagiratha.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, a SRSP official said that the early release from the project has resulted in decrease into river Godavari. The water levels will decrease further in both the project and river Godavari next month, they said.
Meanwhile, Sriram Sagar project received 591.873 tmc of water inflows from June 1, 2022. The total outflow stands at 580.384 tmc, as of Saturday.
