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Srisailam crest gates opened

Staff Reporter

Dam authorities discharge 51,000 cusecs into river; visitors flock to view spectacle

IN FULL FLOW: Water gushing through the spillway at Srisailam dam on Tuesday. — Photo: U. Subramanyam

SRISAILAM: As heavy inflows into Srisailam reservoir sharply pushed up the water level, dam authorities discharged 51,000 cusecs into the river by operating two crest gates on Tuesday. Abdul Basheer, Chief Engineer, lifted the radial gates powered by giant motors formally and let loose two huge water columns into the river. After falling into the concrete bucket nearly 240 ft below, the water jet burst into a huge umbrella of foam and vapour creating a panoramic sight.

The water release was effected complying with the decision of the high-level Committee for Integrated Operation of Krishna-Pennar Rivers-based Irrigation Projects (CIOKRP) on Monday that surplus flood be discharged into the river after the Srisailam level reached 881 ft (FRL 885).

As the level was nearing 881 ft, Mr. Basheer and other officials decided to operate the gates before nightfall to avoid complications keeping in view the last-minute hitch caused by failing motors of the ropeway last year. As the siren kept blaring since morning indicating the opening of floodgates, tourists flocked to the dam site to have a look at the first flood of the season.

Incidentally, last year too the gates were operated on August 1. The dam authorities were happy to have an overflowing reservoir by the end of July, thanks to copious inflows this season.

Anticipating flood

Irrigation authorities are anticipating huge flood in the next few days because of heavy rainfall in the catchment area in Maharastra. Upstream projects like Alamatti, Narayanpur and Jurala projects were also emptying their reservoirs to accommodate the fresh flood.

After the flood discharge, the total release from the Srisailam reservoir accounted for 1,16,443 cusecs while the inflow into the dam was 2.38 lakh cusecs.

Genco has been advised to fully utilise the flood for power generation. The flood from the Srisailam is expected to fill the Nagarjunasagar reservoir by Friday.

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