Divert Krishna floodwater from Srisailam upstream: AP

Amaravati : Andhra Pradesh has again written a letter to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) asking it to divert the excess floodwaters of Krishna river from the upstream areas itself.

In a letter to the KRMB, the Engineer-in-Chief, C Narayana Reddy, on Saturday said heavy rains in the catchment area of River Krishna have led to flooding of the Srisailam reservoir and if the excess waters were not diverted immediately, its release from the reservoir would lead to flooding of downstream areas of Prakasam Barrage and Pulichintala project.

This could lead to loss of life as well property on a large scale and hence, the KRMB should wake up to the impending disaster, his letter said.

However, this diversion of water should not be added to the account of AP (consumption) and it should be treated only as excess floodwaters. As this was a natural calamity, it should be done at once and save the delta area in Andhra Pradesh, the Engineer-in-Chief said.

The official also asked the KRMB to pursue its request for production of hydro-electricity from the Right Bank of Srisailam reservoir. He pointed out that river boards had extensive powers to deal with the emergency situation as it deemed fit under Section 85(7) (para 6) of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

There was no point in wasting the Srisailam waters and instead, the power generation should be allowed by AP in addition, he wrote. He said as all reservoirs from Jurala to Prakasam Barrage were overflowing, the board should seek ways to divert the excess water as per his government's request as was the case in the past too.

He said seven gates of the Srisailam project were lifted and 2,54,758 cusecs were being released downstream while the inflows were 2,04,279 cusecs from the floods. While the project capacity was 885 ft, the present storage level was 884.80 ft, he said.

This could lead to a situation that could force lifting of all the crest gates once leading to Nagarjunasagar reservoir touching the 590 ft mark, he said, quoting the officials to reiterate his argument.