PNS|Vijayawada
The water levels at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada have been gradually receding as the floodwaters from the upper catchment areas have begun to decline. In the last 24 hours, the floodwater decreased from 2.60 lakh cusecs to 1.06 lakh cusecs.
The Water Resources Department officials have taken measures to manage the situation. They released 1.06 lakh cusecs of surplus water downstream of the barrage by lifting all 70 crest gates on Saturday. Among these gates, 10 were lifted to a height of three feet, while the remaining 60 were lifted to a height of two feet.
Furthermore, the flood from the Munnereu tributary has also started receding. The Prakasam Barrage received 1.06 lakh cusecs of water, and the Irrigation department officials discharged the same amount of water into the sea. At present, the officials are maintaining the barrage crest level at 12 feet and have temporarily stopped the supply of water for the canals.
Additionally, the floodwaters from Kattaleru, Wyra, and Paleru, which come from the upper catchment areas, are also decreasing. Around 25,000 cusecs of floodwater was discharged from the Munneru.
As a result, the inflow that led to the Prakasam Barrage has been gradually decreasing. Consequently, the traffic between Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana states has been restored.
In the context of other major projects, such as Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichintala Projects, the water levels have been gradually increasing due to the inflows from the above catchment areas. Presently, the Srisailam project’s water storage has reached 58.82 TMCs against the full reservoir capacity of 215.81 TMCs.
Likewise, the Nagarjuna Sagar Project currently holds 140.85 TMCs of water storage compared to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 312.05 TMCs. Meanwhile, the Pulichintala Project’s water level has reached 164.33 feet with a current storage of 30.78 TMCs, and if more inflows come from the catchment areas, it may reach its maximum storage capacity.
