The spillway gates of Srisailam Project were opened for the first time this water year on Thursday morning, after completion of the south-west monsoon period, to let about 56,000 cusecs into the Krishna river course.
According to the Irrigation Department officials, two radial crest gates Gate No. 6 and 7 were lifted for about 10 feet each at 8 a.m. as the water level in the second largest reservoir in the two Telugu-speaking States reached 884.8 feet against the full reservoir level of 885 feet, when the storage reached 214.84 tmcft against the full capacity of 215.81 tmcft.
Srisailam is one of the two joint projects — the other being Nagarjunasagar — for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana catering to irrigation, hydro-electric generation and drinking water needs. “Lifting of the spillway gates of Srisailam Project has been long-awaited since there were no significant inflows into the reservoir till August-end this year,” the flood monitoring officials in the Irrigation Department stated.
Receipt of sizeable inflows from Krishna that started on August 31 are continuing ever since, following good rains in the catchment areas in Maharashtra, Karnataka and also in Telangana and AP. The recent weather formations coupled with the impact of the monsoon retreat also helped the project get good supplementary inflows from Tungabhadra and Handri rivers. “Although water release from Srisailam to Nagarjunasagar started as early as in the second week of September with the running of power houses on the right and left banks, operated intermittently by AP and Telangana, respectively, lifting of spillway gates was not necessitated so far,” the officials explained.
Inflows into Srisailam recorded at 1,39,007 cusecs at 8 a.m. on Thursday decreased during the day and recorded at about 84,000 cusecs at 8 p.m. However, the outflows from the reservoir, particularly into the river course through the spillway and from the operation of two power houses, continued at over 1,44,000 cusecs throughout the day.
When contacted, Chief Engineer of Nagarjunasagar Project S. Suneel told The Hindu that about 66 tmcft flood was received from Srisailam so far this season. “We are expecting good inflows into Nagarjunasagar from Srisailam for 10 more days as the Central Water Commission (CWC) has issued advisory about prospective inflows and suggested the Srisailam project officials to maintain 880 feet level there,” he stated.
