VIJAYAWADA: River Krishna is in spate after heavy rain lashed neighboring Karnataka. By Thursday evening, Prakasam Barrage received 4,78,114 cusecs of water prompting the officials to lift all 72 gates of the barrage up to one foot and release water downstream.
With water released from the Srisailam project followed by Nagarjuna Sagar and Pulichintala dams, the gates of the barrage were lifted. The first warning continued throughout Thursday and the officials concerned alerted people staying in low-lying areas, such as Krishna Lanka to move to safer places.
“We got a message from the Collector’s office on Wednesday afternoon that water will be released from the (Prakasam) barrage,” said 40-year-old Raju, a resident of Krishna Lanka. However, the residents complained of not being informed of the approximate quantity of water that was to be released.
“Officials always come and say that water will be released but never tell the quantity. It becomes difficult for us to decide what to shift and what not to. In the middle of the night on Wednesday, suddenly water came rushing in and we had to shift our belongings at 3 am,” Raju added.
This apart, not being able to go to work and thus losing out on income is the biggest problem faced by the residents of Krishna Lanka as most of them are daily wagers. The Collector said that more water was expected to be released as the water-level exceeded the full reservoir level (FRL) of 175 feet and reached 178.68 feet at Pulichintala Dam.
“Additional 4.78 lakh cusecs of water is likely to be released from Prakasam Barrage by tonight (Thursday),” he said as he requested people staying in low-lying areas to shift to safer places. It is the seventh and 12th time that the gates of Srisailam dam and Prakasam Barrage have been lifted in this season, respectively.
