KURNOOL: The sharp decline in water level in the Srisailam reservoir has raised concern among the people in both Telugu states, with the storage slipping below the 100tmc mark on Monday.
The reservoir, which generally remains well-stocked from August to December, has been seeing a steady decline in water levels this year, raising questions over the availability of water for irrigation and drinking purposes.
The water storage stood at 99.3340 tmc ft at 6pm on Monday, against 101.9210 tmc ft at the same time on Sunday. The reservoir level fell by 0.70 feet in a day – from 858.70 feet to 858 feet. The full reservoir level is 885 feet and its gross storage capacity is 215.807 tmc ft.
The inflow into the reservoir remained low at just 1,219 cusecs, while 27.40 mm of rainfall was recorded in the Srisailam catchment.
Around 23,673 cusecs was being released downstream through various outlets. The Telangana powerhouse was releasing 13,162 cusecs, while 3,450 cusecs was being released through the Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS), 977 cusecs through the Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation (MGKLI), 4,167 cusecs through the Pothireddypadu regulator and 1,800 cusecs towards Veligonda.
About 117 cusecs was accounted for as evaporation and other losses.
Water release through the AP powerhouse, Malyala KEC and Muchumarri channels remained nil. No water was being released through the spillway either. The Telangana powerhouse generated 6.442 million units of electricity, while power generation through the AP powerhouse remained nil.
“The situation is difficult this year. At present, our priority is to ensure drinking water requirements. The availability of water for other purposes will have to be assessed depending on further inflows,” Srisailam project irrigation SE, S. Kabeer, said.
Farmers are worried as the kharif season is nearing its end and thousands of acres could not be cultivated due to inadequate water availability.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
