Hyderabad: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an updated rainfall intensity warning at 4 pm on Saturday, August 16, issuing red alert for extreme heavy rainfall to all the districts lying in the northern and eastern border of Telangana for Saturday, and five districts lying on the eastern side for Sunday.
The red alert for Saturday applies to Adilabad, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Jayashankar Bhupalapalli, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad, Mahabubabad, Mancherial and Mulugu districts on Saturday, and to Bhadradri Kothagudem, Hanamkonda, Mahabubabad, Mulugu and Warangal districts on Sunday.
Washout of railway lines, washout of roads and bridges, possible damage to irrigation projects in the Godavari basin, disruption of community services, major damage to agricultural and horticultural crops, possible damage to life and property, and severe effect on flora and fauna has been forecast.
Restricted movement in those areas has been advised, along with necessary advisory, action for clearing of water and action by response forces has been suggested by IMD in the districts where the red alert has been issued.
Flood situation in the Godavari basin
As per the readings at 6 am on Saturday, Laxmi Barrage at Medigadda (part of Kaleshwaram Project) saw inflows of 3,30,830 cusecs, which is also the outflow, as the barrage has been rendered defunct after the sinking of its piers in its seventh block in October 2023.
The present storage capacity at Sripada Yellampally Project is 15.81 (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) TMC, as against its gross capacity of 20.175 TMC.
There is 51.66 TMC storage in Sriram Sagar Project, whose gross storage capacity is 80.50 TMC.
The upper, mid and lower Manair Projects have a combined present storage of 18.27 TMC, as against their gross storage capacity (three projects combined) being 53.62 TMC.
The Godavari flood level was 27.90 ft at Bhadrachalam as against the maximum flood level of 75.6 ft. An outflow of 3,70,797 cusecs of water towards downstream was recorded.
Flood situation in the Krishna basin
The Priyadarshini Jurala Project, which is the first to receive inflows from Narayanpur and Almatti dams in Karnataka, has received inflows of 1,10,000 cusecs as recorded at 6 am on Saturday. The project is almost filled to its brim, with its current storage capacity being 8.010 TMC as against its gross storage capacity of 9.66 TMC.
The Tungabhadra Project in the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, which has a gross storage capacity of 105.79 TMC, is presently holding 79.97 TMC.
The Srisailam Project has a present storage of 199.74 TMC, as against its gross storage capacity of 215.81 TMC. There were 1,34,149 cusecs of inflows at Srisailam project, and an outflow of 2,01,226 cusecs as of Saturday morning.
The Nagarjuna Sagar Project is almost full, with its present storage capacity being 304.98 TMC, as against its gross storage capacity of 312.05 TMC. The water from this project is being shared between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The Pulichintala Project, which is in AP bordering Telangana, is also almost full, with its current storage capacity being 40.40 TMC, as against its gross storage capacity of 45.77 TMC.
