VIJAYAWADA: Once again, the river Krishna is in full spate as incessant rains in the catchment areas and steady inflows from upstream reservoirs are causing flooding in the river.
Under the influence of low pressure, moderate to heavy rains are lashing the catchment areas of the river, resulting in brooks, creeks, and tributaries overflowing and ultimately reaching the Krishna.
Meanwhile, upstream projects such as Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichintala have been witnessing steady inflows, prompting the discharge of excess water downstream.
As of Monday, 6 pm, around 3,37,979 cusecs of water is being discharged from the Srisailam project, 2,67,587 cusecs from the Nagarjuna Sagar project, and about 3,10,700 cusecs from the Pulichintala project, as all the projects are filled to capacity.
In view of this, the Prakasam Barrage is releasing a continuous flood of 2,51,783 cusecs of water. The same surplus water, including canal discharges (2,817 cusecs for KE main, 516 cusecs for KW), is being released from the Prakasam Barrage by opening 67 gates (while one gate remains stuck).
It is important to note that so far, around 257 TMC of water has been discharged into the Bay of Bengal from the barrage. On the other hand, the river Krishna has also been receiving water from tributaries like Munner and Paleru, besides the upstream reservoirs. The floodwater is likely to rise to 4–5 lakh cusecs in the coming hours.
In the view of flood alert and heavy rains, which are expected to continue for another two days, the authorities of NTR, Krishna districts and VMC have been put on alert. Several rehabilitation centres have been set up in both districts, and the situation is being monitored from time to time.