Residents breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as the water level in the Munneru River began to recede, dropping to eight feet from Wednesday’s 12 feet.
Nalgonda: Reservoirs and irrigation tanks in Khammam district were brimming with water due to heavy rains over the past two days.
Residents breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as the water level in the Munneru River began to recede, dropping to eight feet from Wednesday’s 12 feet. The Munneru catchment area received seven centimetres of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
In view of the flooding experienced during previous heavy rains, officials had prepared arrangements to shift residents from low-lying areas in 12 divisions of Khammam to rehabilitation centres if the Munneru water level crossed 16 feet. Mapping of low-lying areas and designated rehabilitation centres has already been completed.
With the Palair Reservoir reaching its full reservoir level (FRL) of 23 feet, the irrigation department has been releasing 14,433 cusecs of water through its spill gates, against an inflow of 13,810 cusecs. The Wyra Reservoir has also reached its FRL of 18 feet.
According to the executive engineer of Division-2, irrigation department, out of 1,061 irrigation tanks in Khammam district, 187 village tanks were overflowing, while 252 tanks had filled to 90-100 per cent of capacity. Another 240 tanks were filled to 75-90 per cent, 168 tanks to 50-75 per cent, 152 tanks to 25-50 per cent, and 62 tanks were at 0-25 per cent capacity.
Meanwhile, water levels in the Godavari River are expected to rise, with 15,000 cusecs of water being released from the Taliperu Project at Cherla in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. At Bhadrachalam, the Godavari water level stood at 20.10 feet, with a discharge of 1,80,455 cusecs. The first warning level for the Godavari is 43 feet.
