VIJAYAWADA: After intimating the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB), the State water resources officials started drawing Srisailam water from Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanti (HNSS) ‘as per the procedure’ to meet the drinking water and domestic needs of Kurnool and Anantapur districts in July and August months.
As steady inflows continued to Srisailam reservoir over the last 10 days, the officials informed the board that 8 TMC ft of water was necessary for both the districts.
As of 7 pm Thursday, Srisailam continued to receive steady inflows, which stood at almost 70,000 cusecs. Over 42 TMC ft of water reached Andhra Pradesh’s major reservoir in Krishna basin in the last 10 days.
“We have informed the board that we would need water from Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanti (HNSS) to cater to the needs of Anantapur and Kurnool districts. We started utilisation,” a senior official said.
According to the officials, the drawl of water began on Wednesday. The Engineer-in-Chief (water resources) C Narayana Reddy had written to the board on Monday seeking 8 TMC.
Meanwhile, the officials expect that the inflows to Srisailam would steadily continue for at least two more days. As per the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) flood forecast, the PD Jurala project in Telangana is 90 per cent full and water will continue to reach it due to the heavy rainfall in Karnataka and Telangana States.
“The reservoir in Srisailam is getting an inflow of around 2,000 cumecs (70,600 cusecs) and is expected to get steady inflows for the next 1-2 days,” CWC said.
As the water level is expected to increase, the officials plan to also operate the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator draw water from the foreshore of Srisailam after level surges past the 854 ft.
The officials had complained to the KRMB that Telangana was drawing water even as the water level has not reached the requisite level, after which, the KRMB stopped the same.
Srisailam
849.48 feet: Water level
885 ft: Full Reservoir Level
Gross capacity at FRL: 215.81 TMCft
78.39 TMCft: water at present