Following the release of water from the Pulichintala Project, 70 gates in the Prakasam Barrage here have been lifted to prevent the possibility of flooding on Tuesday.
A.M.D Imtiaz, Collector, Krishna District, who was present at the barrage to review the situation, said that the water from Pulichintala project has reached the barrage by afternoon. With the lifting of these gates, they would initially release 25,000 cusecs of water into Krishna River.
“We will be releasing water slowly based on the inflow from the Pulichintala project. As of 9 am today, it was said that the outflow from the project was at 4.65 lakhs cusecs of water. The Chief Engineers are in constant communication with the officials at Almatti, Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, Pulichintala, projects upstream of Krishna and keeping me informed and the State disaster management office,” said Mr. Imtiaz.
The Collector said that necessary arrangements have been made in the event of a flood. He said that people residing in the low-lying areas have been apprised of the situation and fishermen have been informed not to venture into the river.
“We have already evacuated people living in the encroached river bed and rescue teams have been deployed to villages near the river for shifting them, should there be any flooding. The police, revenue and irrigation departments are taking all the necessary steps to ensure safety of people,” he added.