VIJAYAWADA: With the onset of summer, normally people in the State are worried about the availability of water. Thanks to heavy rains during the second half of last year, water levels in reservoirs are better than last year and the AP State Disaster management Authority (APSDMA) has not listed any water-stressed areas in the State so far. According to the data available with Chief Minister’s Core Dashboard and the Andhra Pradesh Water Resources Information and Management System (APWRIMS), as on Tuesday, the water availability in 108 reservoirs (major, medium and others) in the State is 581.03 TMC as against the total capacity of 982.35 TMC. That is 59.15 per cent, which is comparatively higher than the last year, when the water availability in State reservoirs was only 518.50 TMC (52.78 per cent).
In the major reservoirs, against the gross capacity of 865.64 TMC, at present 532.75 TMC (61.54 percent) of water is available. Compared to last year’s storage of 470.87 TMC, it is much higher. Similarly, the medium reservoirs in the State have 48.19 TMC of water on Tuesday as against 47.54 TMC on the same day last year. However, the irrigation projects (minor) have 0.08 TMC of water as against 0.09 TMC last year. In the case of major reservoirs in the State, compared to last year, water-levels are more, except for Nagarjuna Sagar project.
Srisailam has 94.56 TMC water as against the full reservoir capacity of 215.81, which is better than 47.37 TMC on the same day last year. However, the Nagarjuna Sagar project, which is located downstream Srisailam project, has 211.99 TMC water as against the FRL capacity of 312.05 TMC. It is 5.79 TMC less than the water storage of 217.78 TMC last year. Pulichintala Project downstream Nagarjuna Sagar has 10.99 TMC more water than last year. As against FRL of 45.77 TMC, it now has 28.72 TMC. Last year, it was only 17.73 TMC.
Somasila Reservoir, an important water source of Nellore and Chittoor districts, has 17.29 TMC more water than the previous year. At present, it has 68.32 TMC of water as against the FRL capacity of 78 TMC. Last year, it was only 51.04 TMC. Kandaleru, another important major water project in the south at present, has 53.77 TMC water as against the FRL capacity of 68.03 TMC. Last year, it was only 33.28 TMC.
Gandikota, an important reservoir in the Rayalaseema region, has 26.62 TMC of water against FRL capacity of 26.85 TMC. Last year, it was only 7.44 TMC. Brahmami Sagar, another major project, has 12.41 TMC of water at present as against FRL capacity of 17.74 TMC. Last year, it had 2.62 TMC water.
Coming to northern districts, Thotapalli barrage has 1.95 TMC water at present as against the FRL capacity of 2.51. Last year, it was 1.88 TMC. Tandava has 3.95 TMC as against FRL capacity of 4.96 TMC. It was only 2.88 TMC last year.
Water levels in several of the medium reservoirs in the State at present are better than last year, even if marginally in some cases. Projects on Krishna River in Telangana and Karnataka and on Tungabhadra in Karnataka also have sufficient water this year thanks to the good rains lashed in those States during the monsoon.
Water in reservoirs
581.03 TMC water in 108 reservoirs (major, medium and others) in the State on Tuesday
982.35 TMC total capacity of the reservoirs in State
518.50 TMC water in 108 reservoirs (major, medium and others) in the corresponding day last year