Operating the second stage of Purushottapatnam Lift Scheme on the Left Main Canal of Polavaram project, water is being pumped into the Yeleru reservoir that caters to the city supply.
The first stage of the lift had begun pumping at Purushottapatnam in East Godavari district in the first week of July and it took two to three days for the water to reach the second stage lift near the Yeleru Reservoir.
A part of the water being pumped at Purushottapatnam from the Godavari river into the starting point of the Left Mai Canal is going towards meeting the irrigation needs. As of now around 500 cusecs is flowing into the Yeleru reservoir from the second stage lifting. The lifting and pumping through a 13-km pipeline began Sunday, sources said.
There are eight motors and two pipelines to pump the water into the reservoir. With rain also bringing in inflows of about 400 to 500 cusecs, sources say the reservoir is receiving around 1000 cusecs a day.
With the reservoir not receiving sufficient inflows of late, the ₹1600 crore Lift scheme is meant to pump water into it during the flood season so that water flows by gravity to Kanithi Balancing Reservoir. Pumping from the dead storage level of the reservoir is resorted every year to maintain supply to the city. While water is pumped at 51 km into the reservoir, the remaining flows into the Yeleru river at 57 km to provide water for agriculture. Irrigation officials are monitoring the operation of the two-stage lift and levels in Yeleru reservoir.
This year from April 15, water is being pumped from the dead storage level of Yeleru reservoir to maintain domestic and industrial supply. The water flows more than 150 km in the Yeleru canal to reach the balancing reservoir.
Sources in Visakhapatnam Industrial Water Supply Company (VIWSCO) say the present level is 70.9 metres in the reservoir and only when it reaches 71.5 metres water flows by gravity.
It is estimated that at the present rate of lift working and inflows owing to rain in the catchment area by the third week of July the reservoir will touch 71.5 meters.