NELLORE: Somasila reservoir has received a record level of 77.78 tmc water against the Full Reservoir Level of 78 tmc for the first time in the last 30 years after its construction. Somasila reservoir is brimming with flood inflows from upper catchment areas of Kadapa, Anantapur and other parts due to heavy rainfall in the region.
Officials have started releasing water from Somasila reservoir by lifting crest gates to Penna river. The district administration has alerted the villages adjacent to the river. It may be recalled that Somasila reservoir reached dead storage level of 2.5 tmc in August this year. According to data, the reservoir received 129.185 tmc of inflows from the upstream during the past two and a half months. Officials released 38.511 tmc to Kandaleru reservoir, 11.922 tmc to Nellore, Kanigiri, Sarvepalli, Kanupurupalli tanks, 1.951 tmc to tanks under Kavali canal, 2.279 tmc to tanks under north canal and 0.980 tmc to tanks under south canal. Water was released from the reservoir to Penna on October 12 and 13 by lifting the crest gates as it received huge inflows of 1,30,000 cusecs. About 19,000 cusecs of water was released to Penna during those two days. Farmers are happy that they can cultivate two crops this time as the water stored in the reservoir is sufficient for the entire year.
Earlier, the Irrigation Advisory Board decided to allocate irrigation water to 5.36 lakh acres in the district for the first crop. “Irrigation officials have to check the capacity of tanks and canals before releasing water to them. Majority of the water bodies are receiving the maximum inflows after four to five years. Officials should create awareness among the farmers to utilise the water in an optimum manner,” said P Sriramulu, district secretary of AP Rythu Sangham.