KURNOOL: The Srisailam Dam administration has been placed on high alert after the reservoir received the season’s first major inflows, with heavy rainfall continuing across the upper Krishna River catchment in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Irrigation officials have intensified surveillance and implemented comprehensive safety measures to protect the dam, its infrastructure and the thousands of pilgrims and tourists visiting the project every day.
According to the Irrigation Department’s status report released at 6 pm on Friday, the reservoir’s water level stood at 254.325 metres (834.40 feet) against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 269.750 metres (885 feet). The reservoir currently holds 54.3495 TMC of water, compared with its gross storage capacity of 215.8070 TMC.
The project received 1,31,094 cusecs of inflows from the Krishna basin. Of this, 35,502 cusecs arrived through the Jurala Power House and 95,592 cusecs via Jurala spillway.
The realised inflow stood at 92,709 cusecs, while no inflows were received from the Sunkesula and Handri rivers. Authorities did not release water through the spillway or for power generation. Superintending Engineer (SE) Venu Gopal Reddy chaired a review meeting with officials and directed them to follow all dam safety guidelines. He instructed officials to maintain round-the-clock monitoring of the reservoir, spillway gates, powerhouse installations and other critical structures.
The SE said dam and public safety remain the administration’s top priorities. He said officials have taken precautions to ensure integrity of project while managing reservoir operations in accordance with safety norms. With thousands of devotees visiting the nearby Srisailam temple, authorities have urged pilgrims and tourists to avoid areas, refrain from crossing safety barricades and not attempt selfies near the reservoir edge, spillway or other hazardous locations.
Officials have installed warning signboards at vulnerable points, intensified public announcements and deployed additional police, security and engineering personnel to regulate visitor movement.
Officials said they are monitoring inflows and upstream rainfall and are prepared to take operational measures if water levels rise further during the peak monsoon season.