Nellore: SKFF canal to be widened to meet huge flood flow

Nellore: The Telugu Ganga Project (TGP) officials have proposed cleaning up and expanding of existing Somasila Kandaleru Flood Flow (SKFF) canal to supply excess water during the flood season. The idea is to expand the 45-km long canal from its present capacity of 12,500 cusecs to 24,000 cusecs, almost doubling its capacity, at a cost of Rs. 846 crore. It is estimated that around 250 acre land will be acquired from farmers for taking up the works.

In fact, the Telugu Ganga officials carried out a study in 2015 to increase the capacity of the flood flow canal to improve water flow from the Somasila reservoir to the Kandaleru reservoir since this is the main canal to release water into the sea. With the current capacity of 12,500 cusecs, officials are facing a tough time when the inflows are heavy.

It may be recalled that the district received catastrophic rainfall in November 2015 with Somasila reservoir receiving huge inflows from the catchment areas in Kadapa district. Officials estimated around 20 tmc feet of water from iver Pennar and 30-40 tmc ft of water fromSwarnamukhi went waste in to sea as there was no adequate flow system.

To rectify the shortcoming, now Telugu Ganga officials have came up with a proposal to expand the existing canal keeping the high flows during flood in view. They prepared proposals and sent them to the government for approval. Somasila and Kandaleru are connecting reservoirs and the flow from Somasila has to be released to Kandaleru for storage. But this is being hampered due to the dated canal system designed long ago.

In 2019, officials were able to fill Somasila reservoir only up to its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 78 tmc feet. They were able to supply only 10,000 cusecs of water per day to Kandaleru though the reservoir has a capacity of 68 tmc feet. Officials were able to fill only up to 45 tmc ft last year due to this predicament even though there was a possibly of filling water up to its FRL.

"The 45-km long canal will be expanded from the present capacity of 12,500 cusecs to 24,000 cusecs keeping the future needs in mind. We have sent the

proposals to the state government for approval. This has to be completed within three years and it needs acquisition of

250 acre land and funds to the tune of around Rs. 850 crore," said a senior official.