Andhra Pradesh - Kurnool   

‘Reopening of canals doubtful’

— Photo: U. Subramanyam

Cause of concern: KC canal could not be reopened due to poor inflows in the Tungabhadra river.

KURNOOL: The Irrigation Advisory Board (IAB), which met under the chairmanship of Collector G. Balaramaiah, here on Saturday was uncertain about reopening of irrigation canals due to poor inflows into the reservoirs.

Irrigation officials told the meeting that the KC Canal, SRBC, Telugu Ganga and Guru Raghavendra canals could not be reopened immediately. The flow into the barrage on Tungabhadra at Sunkesula was almost nil. The barrage feeds KC Canal.

On the other hand, release of water from Srisailam reservoir to the KC canal at Banakacharla was also not possible due to low water level in the reservoir. As on Saturday, the level in the Srisailam reservoir was 808 ft as against the Minimum Draw Down Level (MDDL) of 854 ft. Release into KC canal or any other canal dependent on the Srisailam reservoir is not possible unless the level crosses 850 ft.

The only canal which was operating in the district at the moment was Tungabhadra Low Level Canal. The canal was opened on July 12. The water flow at the Andhra Pradesh border was around 320 cusecs. The irrigation officials said due to dry weather conditions, the consumption in the upper reaches increased causing problem at tail-end areas.

The Tungabhadra High Level Canal which supplies water to some of the villages in Aluru would be reopened in August. Even the inflow into Tungabhadra dam at Hospet was only 7,834 cusecs while the level stood at 1,612.38 ft accounting for a storage of 40 tmcft. The canals were drawing water in excess of the inflow. The meeting decided to meet once against in the first week of August depending upon the rainfall that would make the rivers flow. MLA S. Saiprasad Reddy, Chief Engineer Prabhakar Reddy and others were present.

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