ADILABAD: Water levels at the Kadam project in Nirmal district are declining steadily as temperatures continue to rise. The reservoir has a capacity of 7.603 tmcft, of which around 6 tmcft is typically stored. Currently, the water level at the project stands at 2.630 tmcft. On the same day last year, the water level stood at 3.299 tmcft. If the water levels at the project reach the dead storage level, the regular release of nine cusecs of water from Mission Bhagiratha may face problems or be stopped completely. If this happens, five mandals — Kadam, Khanapur, Dsturabad, Pembi, and Jannaram — across Nirmal and Mancherial districts will face drinking water shortage, affecting more than 45 thousand connections.
The 68,000 acres of farmland that falls under the project across both the districts are also likely to face irrigation problems if the water levels decline. Meanwhile, irrigation officials have announced a crop holiday to farmers under the ayacut before the kharif season begins.
Adding to the woes is the fact that silt accumulation has reduced the storage capacity of the reservoir. In 2016, the government planned to remove the silt and had sent a team to identify the issue. However, no measures were reportedly taken after the team collected the details. This decade, water has reportedly overflowed Kadam reservoir two times, and it’s the third time that the project has entered into dead storage levels, with the last ones being in 2019 and 2021.