HYDERABAD: Fresh spells of rain have brought much-needed relief to Telangana's major reservoirs after a weak monsoon left both the Krishna and Godavari river systems with limited inflows for most of the season.
The Sripada Yellampalli reservoir has emerged as the biggest beneficiary, receiving an average inflow of 1,50,326 cusecs on Thursday.
Yellampalli inflows support Mid-Manair pumping
The sustained inflows will allow the government to continue pumping water from Yellampalli to the Mid-Manair reservoir, a process that began on Wednesday. Irrigation officials estimate the transfers could range between 12 tmc ft and 20 tmc ft a day, depending on actual inflows. One lakh cusecs of flow a day translates into 8.46 tmc ft of water.
The Kaddam project also received healthy inflows of 26,512 cusecs on Thursday. However, these are expected to decline sharply to around 3,600 cusecs by the end of the week.
Seven Maoists killed in Gadchiroli encounter; C-60 commando martyred
Krishna reservoirs receive moderate inflows
The Jurala project, the first major reservoir on the Krishna after the river enters Telangana, was receiving 1,18,000 cusecs on Thursday. The inflows are projected to reduce to around 60,000 cusecs by August 6.
The Srisailam reservoir, a key water source for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, recorded average inflows of about 89,000 cusecs. The reservoir has benefited from flows from the Tungabhadra river, which joins the Krishna upstream of Srisailam. These inflows are also expected to taper to around 61,000 cusecs over the next seven days.
However, the Nagarjunasagar reservoir, the principal source of Hyderabad's drinking water, has not received any inflows. Irrigation officials do not expect the situation to improve over the coming days.
Godavari projects register rising water levels
Inflows into the Sriramsagar Project (SRSP) increased to 72,452 cusecs on Thursday, taking the reservoir level to 1,066.6 ft against its full reservoir level of 1,091 ft.
SRSP authorities released 300 cusecs into the Kakatiya Main Canal and another 231 cusecs to meet Mission Bhagiratha drinking water requirements.
The Nizamsagar reservoir on the Manjeera river received inflows of 15,070 cusecs on Thursday. The water level stood at 1,395.83 ft against the full reservoir level of 1,405 ft. Against its total storage capacity of 17.802 tmc ft, the reservoir currently holds 7.466 tmc ft of water.