KURNOOL: The Srisailam reservoir has received a record flood inflows from upstream this season, particularly from the Jurala project. But a sudden decline in inflows has forced irrigation officials to put their plan to lift the Srisailam reservoir gates on hold.
The reservoir holds 181.0590 TMC of water (878.60 feet) at 6 pm on Sunday against its Full Reservoir Level of 885 feet and gross storage capacity of 215.807 TMC. It is receiving 44,279 cusecs of inflows from Jurala alone. However, there are no inflows from Sunkesula, Handri or the immediate catchment Tungabhadra.
The unusual pattern of inflows has made the current flood season significant for Srisailam. “A huge quantity of floodwater flowing into the reservoir through a single upstream source is unprecedented in the history of the Srisailam project,” official said.
Srisailam project Superintending Engineer Venugopal Reddy told TNIE that it was decided earlier to release water downstream with the increase in inflows. However, the sudden decline in inflows has changed the situation. “It would have been better if the inflows had continued for another two days,” the SE said.
A lot depends on water inflows from Tungabhadra to lift Srisailam gates
The gates of the Srisailam reservoir are likely to be lifted if the storage level crossed 200 TMC. Though the water level approached the 885 feet Full Reservoir Level, the proposal to release water has been kept on hold with the sudden decline in inflows. “We have to wait for more inflows,” the SE said, adding that officials are closely watching the Tungabhadra side for additional water. If inflows rise again, the gates will be lifted to release water downstream, he said. The upstream reservoirs are showing better storage this season compared to last year. Despite the record inflows from Jurala, Srisailam’s present storage is slightly lower than last year.
Meanwhile, power generation is continuing at both the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana power houses.
As per Sunday’s morning report, a combined 38,369 cusecs of water is being utilised for power generation, including 31,306 cusecs through the right power house and 7,063 cusecs through the left power house. With the reservoir holding nearly 84 per cent of its gross capacity, officials are monitoring the next flood pulse. The inflows from Tungabhadra, and any fresh rise in inflows from upstream will determine whether Srisailam’s gates are eventually lifted to release water to NS downstream.