Hyderabad: Six crest gates of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project were opened on Monday, August 5, to release water downstream which brings an end to the water scarcity and crop holiday in several regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana downstream. The number of gates lifted will rise to 14 by evening.
An inflow of 1-1.5 lakh cusecs of water is expected as the officials will lift the crests of the Nagarjuna Sagar project by five feet owing to an inflow of 4.22 lakh cusecs primarily due to outflows from the Srisailam reservoir upstream.
Throughout 2023, the project gates remained closed due to the lowest inflows in 40 years amid deficient rainfall in the Krishna basin’s catchment area. The gates were last lifted on August 17, 2022. At least 18 lakh acres, across Telangana (6.3 lakh acres) and Andhra Pradesh (11.74 lakh acres), suffered amid severe water scarcity.
The water levels at the reservoir have reached 584 feet and are expected to reach their gross storage capacity of 590 feet by the end of the day just below its full reservoir level (FRL) of 590 feet.
Riverbank villages in Nalgonda and Palnadu districts were put on alert, and fishermen were advised not to venture into the river due to the expected increase in water discharge.
