ANANTAPUR: At last, the command area under High Level Main Canal (HLMC), a sub-system of Tungabhadra Right High Level Canal (HLC), will get water on Sunday. The Guntakal Branch Canal (GBC), another sub-system, will be given water from August 10.

The Irrigation Advisory Board, which met here on June 21, had in fact decided to give water to the ayacut under HLMC and GBC from July 29. But it did not happen as the release of water to HLC at its head at Tungabhadra dam was delayed by 11 days, on account of non-completion of emergency repairs on the main canal in Karnataka territory.

Initially, the Tungabhadra Board had planned to released water to HLC from July 10. After water was released to the canal on July 21, the main canal in Karnataka territory suffered a man-made breach on July 24 within 24 hours of water coming at the State border.

After the breach was plugged, water release to HLC was resumed on July 29. Regarding release of water to the 16,780 acres ayacut under HLMC and 21,970 acres under GBC, the HLC officials planned to give water from August 1, after the breach was filled. Later, it was postponed to August 5 and then to August 7.

Water for drinking

The Superintending Engineer of HLC, P. Somi Reddy, on Saturday said that 100 cusecs of water would be given to Guntakal summer storage tank for drinking water needs from August 7 to 10. As the HLC water is being impounded in Penna Abhobilam Balancing Reservoir, a trial run of power generation in the mini-hydro-electric plant there with an installed capacity of 20 MW was taken up on Saturday, after a gap of three years.

Water level in the PABR has reached to 423.1 metres and the storage was 1.246 tmcft against the total capacity of 11.1 tmcft on Saturday. The SE said that no wetting was noticed in the grouting works completed on the main bund of PABR so far. Tungbhadra inflows

Meanwhile, Tungabhadra dam was getting inflows of 1,40,884 cusecs and the flood discharge was 1,66,546 cusecs.

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