Himayatsagar's 3 gates opened to feed Musi river

Hyderabad: Anticipating a cloudy weather and a prediction of more rains in the next few days, the authorities at Himayatsagar have finally lifted three crest gates of the lake upto one foot on Tuesday to feed Musi river after the water level reached to a capacity of 1,763 feet as against the full tank level of 1,763.50 feet in the lake.

In the presence of MLA Rajendranagar T.Prakash Goud, the officials of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) have lifted the gates to a height of one foot in order to release 1030 cusecs of water into Musi River.

Though the officials were on alert for the last four days, they were seen on their toes since Tuesday morning to ensure foolproof lifting of gates in order to release surplus storm water. Earlier in the day the alarm was sounded by the authorities announcing about the lifting of gates by 4.00 pm but they waited for almost half an hour to release the water as the level had not been reached to the threshold of 1,763 feet fixed by the officials earlier in the day.

Last year in the intervening night of October 12 and 13, the authorities lifted 13 out of 17 gates upto a height of 6 feet to release 22,638 cusecs of water to feed Musi River. However, the next morning two gates were closed by the authorities leaving behind 11 gates open for the release of flood water into Musi River.

The reservoir has a total number of 17 gates out of which 3 gates have been lifted now to release a total 1030 cusecs of outflow into Musi River. Since yesterday the reservoir received 1,250 cusecs of inflows into the lake prompting the officials to lift the gates.

Following a week-long intermittent rains in catchment areas and subsequent inflows, the officials of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) at Himayath Sagar Lake were put on alert and were seen going into huddle frequently with technical staff and monitoring the situation closely since Tuesday morning.

Sensing the enormity, the authorities even issued a circular to the officials of the Revenue Department asking them to warn the people living in downstream areas of Himayat Sagar and alongside Musi River as they are preparing to raise the crest gates of the lake.