Hyderabad: After almost 18 years, water will be released from Nagarjunasagar in July. Generally, the Sagar dam reaches full reservoir level (FRL) of 590 feet in Aug. However, this year, due to good inflows from upstream areas on the Krishna River, the Sagar water level has reached 583 feet, with a total water reserve of 293 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against the full capacity of 312 tmc ft.Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy would formally open the gates and release water downstream on Tuesday. The irrigation department, through six gates, would release 50,000 cusecs of the total 1.40 lakh cusecs it has been receiving from upstream areas every day. It would help the farmers of both Telangana and AP irrigate about 11 lakh acres in the upcoming kharif season.The AP govt, which controls the Srisailam project upstream of Nagarjunasagar, started releasing water in the past few days. Against the FRL of 885 feet, the present level at Srisailam is 882 feet. Irrigation officials said that for the kharif season, the farmers might require 60-65 tmcft of water. Of the approximately 11 lakh acres in both Telugu states, the ayacut in Telangana is about seven lakh acres under the Nagarjunasagar left bank canal.Telangana govt is also happy as the full reservoir level at Sagar would ensure drinking water supply to Greater Hyderabad for the entire year. Generally, Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) undertakes emergency pumping to provide water during peak summer as Sagar is now the primary source of water to the city. Of the 590 million gallons per day (MGD), the city gets 490 from Krishna three phases. This year, the water board was under pressure to meet the demand as temperatures started soaring in Feb-March itself.
