Himayathsagar gates set to open anytime; officials sound alarm

With just 1.25 feet gap left to touch the full capacity, officials at Himayathsagar lake are preparing to lift the reservoir gates to feed the Musi River. At 8:17 pm on July 18, the water level reached 1762.25 ft (2.631 mcft), as against capacity of 1763.50 ft (2.97 tmcft).

The crammed situation at the lake is the result of constant inflows into the lake which received 1388 cusecs since Sunday morning, while downpour continued to hit the catchment areas like Amdapur, Moinabad, Shadnagar, Amdapur and Nagarguda.

Sensing the enormity, authorities have sounded alarm in nearby areas with the help of Revenue and Police officials. They are constantly watching the situation at the reservoir as they may have to take a call on lifting the crest gates anytime as the lake is about to be fill anytime.

According to an official, "Authorities at the reservoir are keeping a constant eye over the situation and will take a call about lifting the crest gates anytime soon as the lake, though intermittently, is receiving good inflows from the catchment areas since the last four days, more specifically since Sunday morning.

Copious rain, coupled with huge Inflows, has led to a situation where only 1.25 feet of gap is left to

replete the reservoir."

The authorities said informed that they have alerted people living alongside Musi about the situation with the help of the Revenue and Police officials.

However, the Osmansagar Lake saw a decline in inflows since Sunday morning, as there were no fresh inflows into it since Saturday. The reservoir still needs 5.4 ft to reach full capacity. The water level at Osmansagar was 1784.60 ft (2.765 tmcft) at 4.48 pm on Sunday, as against capacity of 1790 ft (3.90 tmcft).

Authorities are of the view that the lake would also get inflows in days to come if rain continues to lash the catchments areas like Janwada, Balkapur and Shankarpalli in Vikarabad district.