Irrigation authorities on Tuesday closed the gates of Srisailam reservoir with a fall in the inflows from Jurala and Tungabhadra reservoirs that are upstream.
Srisailam Superintending Engineer Veeraraju told The Hindu that the gates were closed to increase the water level in the reservoir. Nearly 1.06 lakh cusecs were diverted to the various schemes and power houses associated with Srisailam, Mr. Veeraraju said.
While 26,000 cusecs was released into the Pothyreddipadu head regulator, 31,800 cusecs into power house-I , 42,800 cusecs into power house-II, 2,100 cusecs to the HNSS, and 2,350 cusecs to the Kalavakurthi LI Scheme.
The water level in Nagarjuna Sagar, which received average inflow of 1.5 lakh cusecs, increased to 548.4 feet on Tuesday. The authorities released 7,277 cusecs to the NSP Right Main Canal, 574 to the power house and 1,503 cusecs to the A. Madhavareddy Project.
The authorities raised 69 out of the 70 crest gates of the Prakasam barrage to discharge into the sea 1,41,250 cusecs received from tributaries and streams that joined the Krishna downstream the Pulichintala Project. While the barrage received 1,48,323 cusecs, the authorities diverted 7,073 cusecs, mostly to Krishna Western Delta. Farmers in Krishna district that received good rain have asked the irrigation department not to release water into the canals.