All the reservoirs on the Krishna and Godavari river network are full and with inflows coming in from various water sources, a huge amount of water is being released downstream.

While this has cheered up irrigation authorities, the flood water flowing into low-lying areas of the river and dam networks has been causing concern. As per estimates during the monsoon, about 800 TMC from Krishna waters has passed from the Prakasham barrage and about 3,500 TMC from Godavari headed downstream from Dowlaiswaram barrage.

The continuing rains from the retreating monsoon in the southern States and Maharashtra and huge inflows from the catchment areas of these two river systems are a boon for the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Due to rains over the past weeks, dams such as Almati and Narayanpur in Karnataka; Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on the Krishna, and the Godavari river network have now totally filled up. This augurs well not just for the agriculture sector across these States but also provides a huge water cushion for the next 12-18 months.

Huge inflows

According to Reservoir Monitoring System data, the Priyadarshini Jurala project, which is the entry point of Krishna into the Telangana, is receiving huge inflows from Karnataka-Almati and Narayanpur and other sources. As of today, Jurala is receiving 4.26 lakh cuses of water and is forced to release all the inflow as it is already nearly filled up.

The Srisailam dam downstream is receiving about 5.68 lakh cusecs and releasing about 5.30 lakh cusecs. The dam has lifted the crest gates and releasing water apart from generating power from one of the power houses. As against the full reservoir level of 885 feet, the current level is at 884.4 feet and its storage is at 212 TMC as against full storage of 215.8 TMC.

Apart from generating power, the water released from Srisailam is flowing into Nagarjunasagar, which is already filled up. The Nagarjunsagar project is receiving about 4.67 lakh cusecs and is releasing about 4.53 lakh cusecs by generating power and also releasing water by lifting the crest gates. The Tungabhadra dam is at 862 ft as against FRL of 869 feet.

The situation is no different in the Godavari river network with Jaikwad, Kaddam, Sriramsagar, Nizamsagar, Singur and Yellampally, among others, experiencing huge inflows.

With the Central Water Commission predicting more inflows, the dam authorities have been cautious and letting out more water, expecting fresh inflows.