Srisailam Reservoir plunges below Minimum Draw Down Level, raises water worries for Telugu States

The reservoir level touched 810 TMC for the first time after 2015-16.  

Hyderabad: Even as the peak summer is round the corner, the reservoir level at Srisailam has dropped below the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of 834 feet adding to the water worries of both the Telugu States. The two States could make use of over 19 TMC of water going below the MDDL level. The reservoir level touched 810 TMC for the first time after 2015-16.

Andhra Pradesh continued its drawl from the Muchumarri Lift Irrigation scheme to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs under the Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanti. The project used to support the pre-Kharif activity such as rising of seed beds in its command in Telangana and AP. This may not be the case in the next water year.

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About 850 cusecs were being drawn from the backwaters of Srisailam, thanks to the continued operation of Muchumarri lift in AP. Telangana State also has been drawing about 800 cusecs from the backwaters of Srisailam to support the crops under Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation scheme. Both States have utilised much of the water from the Srisailam mainly for generation of power which was given priority this year, according to officials.

They said required storage levels used to be maintained in Srisailam as it had been the major support source for feeding the reservoirs downstream including the Nagarjuna Sagar. In view of the deficient rainfall received in the catchment of Krishna, almost all the major projects in the basin are on the verge of going dry.

Srisailam reservoir level dropped to 810 feet on Thursday. In case of an emergency situation, water from the project storage can be exploited up to the level of 805 feet and it may yield less than three tmc more and out of this AP could stake claim for its share. In the year 2015-16, the State had encountered a similar situation.

So far as the Nagarjuna Sagar Project was concerned, the reservoir level touched 513.5 feet on Thursday. It has hardly 3.5 tmc above the MDDL of 510 feet to meet the needs of both the States. AP is yet to utilise 2.5 tmc of water from its entitled share for the current water year.