While Krishna Delta farmers struggled to find water to raise nurseries and transplant saplings just a week ago, floodwater had to be discharge downstream the barrage into River Krishna on Tuesday.
Vijayawada Irrigation Circle authorities raised 25 crest gates by one foot to release 18,000 cusecs of flood water downstream the Barrage. Streams and rivulets from Nalgonda, Warangal, Khammam, Krishna and Guntur districts went into spate following heavy rainfall in these districts.
The tail pond of the barrage received a flood of 36,000 cusecs in the early hours of Tuesday mostly from Munneru rivulet that discharged nearly 37,000 cusecs into Krishna River near Keesara Bridge.
There is no release of water from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam which is receiving inflows of 107 cusecs.
The water level in the reservoir is 511.2 feet which is just 1.2 feet above the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of 510 feet.
The inflow at the barrage, however, fell to 30,000 cusecs in the evening. While releasing 12,000 cusecs into the Krishna Eastern and Western main canals from the barrage the authorities operated the gates to release 18,000 cusecs downstream the barrage into the sea.
While, the water level in Nagarajuna Sagar and Srisailam reservoirs is still precarious and the inflows minimum, water had to be discharged at Prakasam Barrage which is merely an anicut with a capacity to store just about 2 tmcft.
Meanwhile, Almatti seems to be the only reservoir on Krishna River with an inflow of 95,430 cusecs.
With water level in the dam just five feet below its full reservoir level of 1705 feet 30,000 cusecs is being released down stream to Narayanapur Reservoir.
Staff Reporter from Guntur writes: Farmers in Krishna Western Delta have a reason to smile as heavy rains in the catchment area above Prakasam Barrage have allowed Irrigation Department to draw 6,000 cusecs into the KWD channel feeding water to farmlands.
The moderate spell of rains during the last four days has breathed life into the parched delta triggering farm activity.
“We drew 6,000 cusecs from Prakasam Barrage on Monday and are expecting the same inflow for two more days.
The amount of water is sufficient to meet the present needs of farmers in KWD,” Superintendent Engineer, Guntur Irrigation Circle, V.S Ramesh Babu told The Hindu on Tuesday.
The monsoon prediction on Tuesday however has cast a dampener with rains expected to abate during the coming few days.
However, the Irrigation Department is expecting to draw about 5,000 cusecs from the Prakasam Barrage.
