Heavy inflow of water into Andhra's Srisailam reservoir

Srisailam reservoir has been receiving an inflow of 4.20 lakh cusecs of water from upstream Jurala project even as the Tungabhadra river was also overflowing.

Collectors of Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Guntur and Krishna districts have been put on an alert as the crest gates of Srisailam reservoir would be opened in the wee hours tomorrow, official sources here said.

While the full reservoir level of Srisailam is 885 ft, water level touched 880 ft by late today evening.

The Power Generation Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited is generating 1500 MW of power at the hydel stations at Srisailam using the flood water. About 73,000 cusecs of water was being discharged from Srisailam to Nagarjuna Sagar dam downstream.

Heavy rain in the catchment area between Jurala and Srisailam is only adding to the inflows into Srisailam causing alarm.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah reviewed the situation with ministers Ponnala Lakshmaiah (Irrigation), Dharmana Prasada Rao (Revenue), Chief Secretary S V Prasad and Disaster Management Commissioner T Radha this evening and directed them to monitor the situation and take required steps to prevent inundation of low-lying areas.

Rosaiah also directed Collectors of Mahbubnagar and Kurnool districts to be on vigil and evacuate people from flood-prone areas.

In Kurnool, an emergency control room has been opened to monitor the situation round-the-clock.

All major reservoirs were brimming following incessant rains across the state even as the Met Department today issuing warning of heavy rainfall over Rayalaseema region and in some districts of coastal Andhra for the next two days.

Meanwhile, in the state capital Hyderabad, heavy rain led officials to issue a warning to people residing in low-lying areas to be on alert.

District Collector Natarajan Gulzar said a control room has been opened in the Collectorate here to monitor the situation and take necessary measures.