Heavy inflows into major projects in Godavari basin keep officials on toes

Heavy inflows into major irrigation projects in Godavari basin in north Telangana are keeping officials of the Irrigation department on their toes, prompting them to increase outflows from the projects to downstream areas.

With the water level touching almost the Full Reservoir Level of (FRL) of 700 ft at Kadam project in Adilabad district on Wednesday morning, officials issued a red alert and asked villagers residing in low-lying areas to be careful. The dam faced a similar situation when heavy floods hit the area in 1995. However, since the damage to the dam was only minor then, officials managed to overcome the situation. Officials said the situation could be worrisome if more inflows from the catchment and upstream areas in Maharashtra reach the dam.

Irrigation department officials led by Superintendent Engineer Sushil Kumar are constantly monitoring the situation at Kadam project. Officials at Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) were releasing as much as 4,50,024 cusecs of water from 36 gates



as it was getting 4,18,960 cusecs of inflows.

With the increasing inflows at Mid Manair Dam (MMD) in Karimnagar, officials are considering lifting the gates and it may happen anytime.

The water level in Godavari River at Bhadrachalam in Kothagudem district has been rising rapidly and reached the third warning level of 53 feet at Bhadrachalam at 11.55 am on Wednesday. At 4 pm, the water level was 53.10 feet.

District Collector Anudeep Durishetty, in a statement, said there was a possibility of further rise and the water level might reach 63 feet. The government machinery in the district was on high alert.

The Priyadharshini Jurala Project (PJP) in Krishna River basin in Mahbubnagar district is also receiving heavy inflows. The inflows at PJP were 8,780 cusecs at 6 am today and by 3 pm the flows had gone up to 58,000 cusecs. Since inflows are expected to increase considerably at PJP, officials are on high alert and are monitoring the situation.