Nizamabad: SRSP gets inflows as Babili gates lifted

Nizamabad: The gates of the Babli project, illegally constructed by the Maharashtra government on the Godavari River, were opened on Thursday in line with the Supreme Court verdict.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, it has become customary for irrigation engineers from both the States of Maharashtra and Telangana to open the gates of the contentious Babli project on July 1 for the last six years in the presence of CWC officials, the gates will remain open till October 31. The Vishnupuri project, which is located above the Babli project, was flooded up to Brima due to continuous rains in the Godavari catchment area of Maharashtra. With this the Vishnupuri dam opened a gate and released water to the bottom of Godavari.

The total water capacity of Babli is 1.96 tmc while at present Babli has 0.75 tmc of water. Telangana-Maharashtra Irrigation Department officials opened the Babli gates and released water downstream, revealing the beauty of the Godavari watershed at the confluence of three rivers at Kandakurti in the Rangel Mandal of Nizamabad district.

The flow of water left from the Babli project reaches the Sriramsagar project. Crops are likely to be irrigated under the SRSP command area. Farmers are happy with the water flow due to the opening of the gate.