Out of 12 flood gates of the Babli project, built across the Godavari river, in Dharmabad taluq of Nanded district in Maharashtra 10 were opened in the presence of the engineering authorities of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Central Water Commission on Sunday around 11 a.m.
The gates would be kept open till October 28 as per the directions of the Supreme Court.
Monsoon feature
It may recalled here that it is mandatory on the part of the Maharashtra government to keep open the gates of the controversial Babli project for 120 days during the monsoon season.
Executive Engineer from Andhra Pradesh R. Mohan, Executive Engineer of the Central Water Commission E. Venkateswarlu, EE Irrigation of Maharashtra Kalekar and Sri Ram Sagar Project Executive Engineer B. Rama Rao, DEE Jagadish and AEE Vamsi were present when the gates were opened.
Out of the 12 gates of the barrage two gates, which are opened only during emergencies, remain closed always. According to Rama Rao, 0.56 tmcf of water from the Babli is likely to reach the SRSP by Monday.
Water level
As of now water level in the SRSP is at 1056.20 ft as against its FRL of 1091 ft with 10.171 tmcf water being in reservoir as against the total capacity of 90 tmcf.
Earlier, a few days ago the Babli gates were to be opened to let the water go into the river following the torrential rains upstream in the river when almost 4 tmcf reached the SRSP reservoir. subsequently, a couple of days after gates were closed.
