HYDERABAD: With heavy rains upstream of catchment areas of Osmansagar popularly known as Gandipet, four floodgates have been lifted on Saturday afternoon by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB). A few more floodgates would be opened later as there are steady inflows into the reservoir from upstream.
Four floodgates of Himayatsagar reservoir were opened last week, of which two were closed yesterday and two continue to remain open.
Rains that have been lashing the city and its surrounding areas for the last few days have resulted in heavy inflows into the reservoirs.
With the lifting of the floodgates of Osmansagar reservoir, more water discharge is likely downstream of the Musi river. An alert was issued by HMWS&SB Managing Director, M Dana Kishore, to people residing downstream of the reservoir all along the river to avoid any untoward incidents.
As additional inflows are likely, water is being released systematically to avoid a sudden discharge downstream of the river.
HMWS&SB has alerted the district administration of Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts along with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and police to shift the people living downstream of the river.
The floodgates of Osmansagar and Himayatsagar were opened in the last week of July in view of heavy rains that lashed the city. Himayatsagar has a total of 17 floodgates while Osmansagar has 15 floodgates.
HMWS&SB officials are closely monitoring the water levels in both the reservoirs in the light of rains in the catchment areas and more floodgates will be opened depending upon the inflows from the upstream areas.