NALGONDA: With increased inflows into the Nagarjunasagar reservoir, the state government will begin releasing water for drinking purposes on Friday. This year, the inflows began earlier on June 30, a month ahead of last year, bringing cheer to farmers.
Traditionally, irrigation water for the monsoon crop is released in August. However, with inflows continuing at a significant pace, there is growing optimism among the farming community that water for irrigation could be released by the third week of July.
The Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal caters to around 6.5 lakh acres. In 2023-24, owing to insufficient inflows, only about one lakh acres were cultivated using borewells and open wells. The rest of the command area, dependent on canal irrigation, suffered heavy crop losses.
The reservoir’s current water level stands at 560.7 feet against its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 590 feet. Inflows on Thursday were recorded at 69,522 cusecs, with an outflow of 1,800 cusecs.
Last year, water for irrigation through the Left Canal was released on August 2. Over the past decade, release dates have generally fallen in August, barring exceptions like 2017, when water was released as late as October 31, and 2023, when no water was released at all.