Water bodies filled to the brim in Telangana

Hyderabad: As the incessant rains in the upper basin of Godavari River in Telangana continue to lash, all the reservoirs as well as most of the water bodies in the river basin are filled to the brim. Subsequently, the Irrigation department is now focusing on restoring the water levels in various water bodies by releasing water downstream depending on the agriculture needs.

Following instructions from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao at a high level meeting on the flood position in the State on Tuesday, the Irrigation officials are drawing up plans to discharge water to cater to the needs of farmers in the basin and facilitate smooth operation of farm activities. They are confident of meeting the water requirements of farmers for sowing operations without much difficulty.

At present, the Sri Ram Sagar (SRSP) and Pocharam projects in Nizamabad district, Swarna and Kadem projects in Adilabad district, and Sripada Yellampalli in Peddapalli district, are filled to their full capacity. The water levels in SRSP touched 74.83 TMC against it total capacity of 90.31 TMC at 12 noon on Tuesday, while the inflow into the project was 81,730 cusecs, prompting officials to release 86,118 cusecs of water downstream by opening nine gates.

Currently, the water levels in Singur project is 20.59 TMC out of 29.91 TMC, Kadem project is 6.26 TMC out of 7.6 TMC, and Sripada Yellampally project is 13.24 TMC out of 20.18 TMC. The Irrigation department reports on water levels predicts availability of plenty of water to cater to the needs for the entire Vaanakalam (Kharif) season by end of August.