Krishna Basin Projects Near Full Capacity; TB Reservoir Restricted Over Gate Condition
Krishna projects hold 656.17 TMC ft (94.35%); Srisailam at 210 TMC ft, and inflows are high
Anantapur: With the South West Monsoon coming to an end, major irrigation projects under the Krishna basin have reached maximum storage capacity, following heavy upstream floods — the first such occurrence in many years during the monsoon season.
Krishna basin projects currently hold 656.17 TMC ft, amounting to 94.35 per cent of their total storage. However, the Tungabhadra reservoir saw its storage reduced by more than 20 TMC ft due to the poor condition of its crest gates this season.
The Tungabhadra, the major water source for the Rayalaseema region, received a total yield of 354 TMC ft. It is currently maintained at 80 TMC ft against its original capacity of 105 TMC ft, on the advice of experts due to the 75-year-old gates’ weakened condition. On Tuesday, it recorded inflows and outflows of 10,524 cusecs each.
Meanwhile, the Srisailam reservoir continued at full capacity, holding 210 TMC ft, with inflows of 1.62 lakh cusecs and equivalent outflows towards dependent canals and sub-projects.
The Handri Neeva Sujala Shravanthi project received water through Srisailam’s backwaters. Notably, for the first time, Kuppam in Chittoor district received Krishna waters, owing to heavy flows into Srisailam, widening of the HNSS main canal from Malyal to Jeedipalli, and canal lining from Kadiri to Kuppam.
