With the water level in Srisailam rising fast, pressure is mounting on the government to release water to Rayalaseema. The water level in the reservoir crossed the 850-feet mark on Saturday. The inflows into Srisailam hovered around 2.2 lakh cusecs through the day.
Now that the needs of the Krishna Delta are being taken care of by the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao have been saying that water would be lifted from the shores of Srisailam reservoir the instant the level crossed the 840-ft mark.
Srisailam, which has a flood cushion of 147 tmcft, has been receiving water at the rate of 20 tmcft a day, according to Irrigation Department sources.
Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanti (HNSS) Lift Irrigation scheme can pump water once the water level crosses the 840-feet mark. The scheme with an ayacut of 6.02 lakh acres catered to the drinking water needs of 33 lakh people living in Kadapa, Kurnool, Chittoor and Anantapur districts. In the first phase, water was lifted by 292 metres in eight stages.
Even as the Chief Minister and the Water Resources Minister are favouring the pumping of water through the HNSS, elected representatives of the YSR Congress in a memorandum to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) demanded that the level in the Srisailam Reservoir be allowed to build up to 854 ft so that water could be released to the Pottireddypadu Head Regulator.
The capacity of the regulator increases with the level of the water in the Srisailam Dam. The regulator can draw up to 44,000 cusecs when the level in the dam touches 879 ft. The capacity of the regulator was increased to 44,000 cusecs by former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
