Scarce rainfall paints a gloomy picture.

​Vijayawada: With less than 20 days left for the beginning of Krishna Pushkaralu, the Prakasam Barrage is not getting inflows of Krishna river water. It is estimated that nearly 3.5 crore people are expected to take the holy dip during the Pushkaralu next month.

Vijayawada city has lot of significance in the State as far as the holy event is concerned. Against this backdrop, Prakasam barrage where six main ghats are located is attracting the attention of State government and pilgrims.

So far, the Prakasam barrage is not receiving Krishna water. The existing 2 tmc feet of water stored at Prakasam barrage reservoir is Godavari water, which flowed through Pattiseema lift irrigation.

Actually, Prakasam barrage gets water from three sources. The first one is inflows from Nagarjuna Sagar or Pulichintala reservoirs. So far, water is not being released from either Sagar or Pulichintala.

While Sagar water will be released after filling the dam and it may take few more weeks or months. But Pulichintala has only 2.6 tmc feet of water and it would be released during the crunch times of Pushkaralu.

The second source of inflow into Prakasam barrage is rainfall and the third source is Pattiseema water, which is Godavari water again.

Apart from holy event, the Prakasam barrage also has enough catchment areas in Jaggaiahpet, Nandigama, Chandarlapadu, Vatsavai, Penuganchiprolu, Kanchikacharla and Ibrahimpatnam and upstream areas of Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Guntur districts.

Rain water from more than 100 streams, small creeks and tributaries flow into Krishna river, particularly into Prakasam barrage during rainy season.

However, the catchment mandals of Krishna river in western Krishna registered either normal or deficient rainfall this month. Jaggaiahpet, Vatsavai, Penuganchiprolu and Ibrahimpatnam mandals recorded scarce rainfall.

Average rainfall in Jaggaiahpet mandal is 277 mm from July 1 to 25. But, only 170 mm rainfall was recorded this month. Vatsavai recorded 33 per cent deficient rainfall, Penuganchiprolu registered 27 per cent less rainfall and Ibrahimpatnam mandal recorded 27 per cent less rainfall.

Whereas Nandigama, Chandarlapadu, Kanchikacharla, Veerulapadu, G Konduru and Mylavaram mandals, which are catchment areas of Prakasam barrage have registered normal rainfall.

If these mandals get excess rainfall, the water will flow into Krishna river and help devotees take dip in Krishna river waters.

YSRCP senior leader and former minister Kolusu Parthasarathy alleged that the government had failed to remove silt from the Prakasam barrage or complete the Pulichintala project.

He said at least 4 tmc feet of Krishna water can be stored at Prakasam barrage, if silt and sand is removed. He said more water can be stored in Pulichintala, if the project is completed.

• Prakasam Barrage being an important spot for holy dip, lack of Krishna water worries pilgrims
• Even catchment areas on the barrage are affected due to shortage of rains
• YSRCP leader Kolusu Parthasarathy blames govt for this gloomy situation since silt and sand not removed from the Prakasam barrage

Third source of inflows is Godavari waters through Pattiseema lift irrigation project. Due to floods in Godavari river, the irrigation department is successfully releasing Godavari waters into Prakasam barrage through Pattiseema for two weeks.

These Godavari waters are released for irrigation in delta areas of Krishna and Guntur district.

Confusion prevailed among the devotees about the holy bath next month. It is not clear in which water the pilgrims take bath at Prakasam barrage. It may be Krishna or Godavari waters or the mix of two rivers.