With Prakasam Barrage on the Krishna River receiving heavy inflows since Tuesday from the Pulichintala project upstream, the discharge touched 4.98 lakh cusecs, the highest after 2009 when it was 10.94 lakh cusecs, as of Wednesday evening.
At 7 p.m, the inflow was steady at 4.27 lakh cusecs, with the reservoir holding water to its full capacity of 3.07 tmcft. In 2013, a discharge of 4.67 lakh cusecs was registered at the barrage.
Water Resources Department officials say inflows were likely to come down from the Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) and Pulichintala. At Srisailam, the inflow was 8.94 lakh cusecs and the outflow was 7.50 lakh cusecs. However, the authorities in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts have been put on alert. Many people have been evacuated and moved to relief centres in Vijayawada, and mandals of Guntur upstream and downstream Prakasam Barrage.
10 rescued
First flood alert sounded after the outflow reached 3.96 lakh cusecs was being continued and the second alert would be sounded when the discharge touches 5.66 lakh cusecs. Meanwhile, operations were carried out to rescue four shepherds and six farmers stuck in the Krishna river in Mopidevi mandal and at Papavinasanam of Ghantasala mandal respectively. About 145 men of AP Fire Services and Disaster Response and the National Disaster Response Force and equipment have been deployed and positioned in 11 mandals of Krishna district, including Mopidevi and the Sub-Collector’s office in Vijayawada. In Guntur district, 58 personnel of the State and national forces have been positioned in Tenali, Repalle, Mangalagiri, Pulichintala, Kollipara and Kolluru mandals.
