VIJAYAWADA: After receding in the last two days, the inflows upstream Bhadrachalam and to Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram are once again on the rise as the upper catchment areas of Godavari is receiving continuous rainfall.
Though the Central Water Commission (CWC) advised a close watch, it also forecast that the rising trend is expected to fall by Friday.
Meanwhile, Srisailam reservoir continued to receive full flows and irrigation officials lifted eight crest gates as it almost reached its full reservoir level on Thursday evening. With the inflows increasing to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, it is expected to reach its full reservoir level by Friday, following which its gates will also be lifted, according to the officials.
At Bhadrachalam, the water level went down to 46.7 feet and the discharge was 11.37 lakh cusecs. However, by 8 pm, the level rose to 52.2 feet with a discharge of 13.79 lakh cusecs.
Similarly, the flood level at SAC Barrage declined in the morning and it recorded 14.45 lakh cusecs with a falling trend at 1 pm, by evening the inflows started to rise, according to the officials. As of 8 pm, the barrage was receiving 14.15 lakh cusecs with a rising trend and the second warning is in force.
The CWC said, “River Godavari and its tributaries such as Indravati and Sabari are likely to rise again due to forecast of rainfall.” The CWC forecast said that the trend may once again see a fall by Friday depending on the intensity of rainfall.
On the other side, the Krishna basin received heavy flood discharge from projects in the upper parts of the river. The inflows to Srisailam reservoir went up to as high as 4.8 lakh cusecs, with realisation being around 4.2 lakh cusecs.
Operation of power houses on both right and left banks is in full swing, and the officials said that the level touched 884.2 feet as against the full reservoir level of 885 ft. They said that eight radial crest gates were opened and more of the remaining four would be lifted depending on the inflows.
“The flows are expected to be higher and as the reservoir almost reached the FRL, we will increase the outflows by lifting two-three more gates to match the incoming discharge,” an official explained.
Pulichintala project was getting 35,000 cusecs at 7 pm with a rising trend, while Prakasam Barrage was getting similar inflows with a falling trend.
“River Krishna and its tributaries such as Tungabhadra and Bhima are expected to continue rising slowly and most of the dams in the basin are expected to release considerable quantity of water. A close watch needs to be maintained in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts,” the CWC said.