Flood at Prakasam barrage begins to recede

Flood levels at the Prakasam Barrage have shown slight signs of receding as inflows from upstream projects are gradually declining. However, with surplus discharge into the sea still over 5.67 lakh cusecs, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has continued the second flood warning at the barrage.

The highest flood inflow of 6,69,188 cusecs was recorded at the barrage on Tuesday. By Wednesday evening, it declined to 6.08 lakh cusecs. At 8 pm, out of this, 5,93,370 cusecs were released into the sea by lifting 69 gates (with one gate non-operational), while 14,863 cusecs were diverted into the Krishna Eastern and Western canals. The water level at the barrage stood at 15.3 feet. WRD officials said inflows are expected to reduce further.

Upstream, the Pulichintala Project discharged 4,05,084 cusecs, of which 3,88,034 cusecs flowed through the spillway and 16,600 cusecs through power generation. The project received over 4,11,080 cusecs from the Nagarjuna Sagar Project.

Meanwhile, the Srisailam Project discharged 5,38,929 cusecs against inflows of 5,28,866 cusecs from upstream reservoirs. At 6 pm, the project level was 884 feet, storing 204.79 TMCs. Subsequently, the Nagarjuna Sagar Project received about 4,14,188 cusecs and released the same volume downstream.

The Prakasam Barrage gates have been operational since July, and for the past six days (since September 25), all 69 gates have remained fully open. In September alone, officials issued the first flood warning three times and the second flood warning twice at the barrage.