Water in Papavinasanam dam reaches FRL
The incessant rains that lashed the temple town of Tirumala during the past two days nevertheless has brought in the much required relief to the water-starved pilgrim town with all its four major drinking water projects registering their full reservoir capacities.
The downpour was so heavy that for the first time in the recent years the gates of Papavinasanam dam were lifted and water was let off to Mamandur abutting Kadapa district. The water reached its full reservoir level (FRL) of 697.14 metres.
While so, the newly constructed Kumaradhara and Pasupudhara drinking water projects with a combined storage capacity of 5,450 lakh gallons was almost full to its brim and the officials expect lifting of gates at any time as the reservoir was still receiving copious inflows.
Record rainfall
Meanwhile, the Akasa Ganga dam, constructed on the upper reaches of the Papavinasanam dam, was also full to its capacity and Gogarbham dam, another major source of drinking water, falls a couple of metres short to its full reservoir level.
Sources said Tirumala received about 151 mm of rainfall in a span of less than thirty hours. Statistics also reveal that the town registered a record rainfall of 712 mm till December 4 against the average of 685 mm during the entire south-east monsoon period.
The TTDs Executive Officer L. V. Subramanyam said the water in the reservoirs was sufficient to meet the requirements of the visiting devotees for the next 400 plus days.
Gates of Papavinasanam dam lifted for the first time in recent years ‘Water sufficient for meeting devotees’ requirements for over 400 days’
