Nagarjuna Sagar Dam Gates Opened for Water Release Amid Heavy Rains
Water Release from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
Hyderabad, July 29: On Tuesday, the Nagarjuna Sagar dam, situated on the Krishna River, saw the opening of fourteen crest gates to allow water to flow downstream.
This marks the first occasion in 18 years that the dam's gates have been opened in July.
Typically, water is released in August; however, significant inflows from the Srisailam dam due to heavy rainfall in Maharashtra and Karnataka have led to an early filling of the reservoir this year.
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Minister for Scheduled Caste Development and Tribal Welfare Adluri Laxman Kumar, supervised the opening of 14 out of the 26 gates to facilitate water release.
The gates were raised to a height of five feet, allowing for the discharge of 78,060 cusecs of water downstream. On Tuesday morning, the inflow into Nagarjuna Sagar was recorded at 2,28,900 cusecs, while the outflow was 1,18,790 cusecs.
Additionally, water was directed into the left and right canals for irrigation purposes and to support a hydroelectric power plant.
Authorities have issued warnings to residents in low-lying areas downstream prior to the water release.
As of Tuesday morning, the water level in the Nagarjuna Sagar dam reached 587.20 feet, just below its full capacity of 590 feet, with a total storage of 305.62 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) against a maximum of 312.04 TMC.
Minister Reddy expressed satisfaction over the opening of the crest gates, referring to Nagarjuna Sagar as a modern temple. He highlighted that the project's foundation was laid by the first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and later inaugurated by Indira Gandhi.
He emphasized that this significant project irrigates 22 lakh acres across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In related developments, authorities also opened the crest gates of the Srisailam dam in Andhra Pradesh due to substantial inflows from upstream projects.
The gates were raised to a height of 10 feet to release water downstream to Nagarjuna Sagar.
Officials reported that the water level in Srisailam on Tuesday morning was 883 feet, close to its full reservoir level of 885 feet, with a storage of 204.78 TMC against a capacity of 215.80 TMC.
Currently, 2,29,743 cusecs of water are flowing into Srisailam from the Jurala and Sunkesula projects, while the outflow is 2,48,900 cusecs.
Officials indicated that 1,62,942 cusecs were being released, with 20,000 cusecs through the Pothireddypadu head regulator, 35,315 cusecs via the left bank hydel power station, and 30,643 cusecs through the right bank hydel station.