Karimnagar: Irrigation projects overflow with floodwater

Karimnagar: With a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal followed by the heavy rains that have been witnessed from the past few months in the district, several projects are overflowing with flood water.

In the last 35 years, Karimnagar has not witnessed such heavy rainfall. Even though there was a minimum rainfall recorded in the district for past few days, with the heavy downpour occurring in the other regions, heavy inflow of water has been reaching several projects and filling them.

With the heavy inflow of water from upstream, the Lower Manair Dam (LMD) has been filled. Officials had lifted 12 gates and left about 24,000 cusecs of water to the downstream. With the overflowing of Moya Tummeda Vagu in Sircilla district, heavy inflow has been witnessed into the LMD of Karimnagar district. By lifting 2 gates of Mid Manair Dam (MMD), the officials released 9,700 cusecs of water to the downstream.

Kaleshwaram project's Lakshmi, Saraswathi and Parvathi barrages are filled with the flood water. Officials are releasing the water time-to-time by lifting the gates. Officials lifted 23 gates of Lakshmi barrage and released around 1.37 lakh cusecs of water, by lifting 15 gates from Saraswathi barrage, around 32,000 cusecs of water was released. By lifting 25 gates of Parvathi barrage, the officials released around 27,000 cusecs of water.

The Mid Manair and Upper Manair dams which are constructed on the Manair river were also filled the water. The officials are supervising the inflows and trying to maintain the minimum levels of the water in the respective reservoirs.

Water level at the catchment area of Godavari along with the Pranahitha at Triveni Sangamam near Kaleshwaram temple was recorded as 7.66 meters.

Around 84,000 tmc of water inflow was recorded into the LMD till date and the officials released 68,000 tmc water downstream. There was around 29 tmc water inflow from MMD, around 59,000 tmcs of inflow from Moya Tummeda Vagu and from around 3 tmc of inflow from Kakatiya canal reached the LMD.

For the first time after several years, all the irrigation projects are overflowing in the Karimnagar district.

Meanwhile, with the rains that occurred in some part of the erstwhile Karimnagar district -- paddy, cotton and corn crops have been damaged in hundreds of acres of land in Dharmapuri, Sarangapur, Korutla, Chigurumamidi, Huzurabad and Jammikunta mandals.