VIJAYAWADA: With heavy rains in Godavari Basin, Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowleswaram and Polavaram projects witnessed heavy inflows. With heavy to very heavy rainfall expected in the next two to three days, the Central Water Commission (CWC) said that the water levels are expected to further rise and advised caution.
“Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Telangana during next two three days. River Godavari is also getting good flows due to rain in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana. Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh is getting around 19,000 cumecs (6.7 lakh cusecs) with increasing trend. There is forecast of heavy to very heavy rainfall in Telangana and AP also for next two to three days. Close watch is to be maintained,” the CWC’s flood forecasting report noted.
The inflows to Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowleswaram are on the rise, according to officials. As of 6 pm, 4.14 lakh cusecs inflow and 4.16 lakh cusecs outflow. The officials operated all 175 crest gates to regulate the flow. About 12,000 to 14,000 cusecs were diverted for the Godavari delta, the officials said. As per the trend of the inflow due to the rainfall forecast, the discharge is expected to surge further. With heavy inflows, the water level at Polavaram, according to CWC’s report, was at 21.56 metres. The levels at the cofferdam increased to almost 25 metres in the day and the water level at spillway is also on the rise.
Due to the heavy inflows and incessant rainfalls, the communication to around 20 villages in the Agency area has reportedly been disrupted. The officials initiated precautionary measures to bring down flood threat.
On the other hand, the inflows to Srisailam, which surged to 2.5 lakh cusecs a few days ago, have come down to 52,000 cusecs as of 6 pm, while the outflow was recorded to be 54,000 cusecs. Though the inflows to Almatti and other upper Krishna Basin projects is expected to rise in the next couple of days, the trend in Srisailam reservoir is falling as the discharge from the upper riparian states has come down. As against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 885 ft, the reservoir has water till 865.1 ft with about 122.72 TMCft. The gross FRL capacity of the reservoir is 215.81 TMCft.
Nagarjuna Sagar Project, as of 3 pm, recorded an inflow of 40,200 cusecs and an outflow of 7,800 cusecs. Water at present is at 563.5 ft as against the full reservoir level (FRL) of 590 ft. The current storage is at 240.60 TMCft with a flood cushion of 71.45 TMCft. The Vijayawada irrigation officials operated the crest gates of Prakasam Barrage as water from upper Krishna tributaries resulted in surplus water. About 20,100 cusecs of inflow and 20,600 cusecs of outflow were recorded at 7 pm. In the morning, the officials partially lifted the gates to release a surplus of 7,500 cusecs downstream.