The water levels in Medigadda Lakshmi Barrage of the Kaleshwaram project are increasing rapidly due to heavy rains in the upstream areas, according to officials.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRAGEMENT
The sinking of piers of the Medigadda Barrage last year has resulted in 73 TMC ft of water going into the sea as the officials are forced to release water from the barrage fearing danger to the barrage as per the instructions from the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).
The NDSA examined the piers in the seventh block of the Medigadda Barrage that developed cracks in October last and warned that storing water would be a threat to the barrage, officials said citing the reason for letting out water.
Officials claimed that as per the directions of the NDSA, all 85 gates have been lifted to let out the flow which is coming due to heavy rains. “At present, there are no conditions to store water at the barrage and we are forced to open all the gates,” an official said on the condition of anonymity.
It has already been nine months since damages were noticed to the piers that sunk in October last. There has been no significant water flow in the Godavari in the intervening period. However, Godavari has seen heavy flood flow due to heavy rains for the last five days.
On Friday evening, the water flow at Medigadda reached 3,10,080 cusecs while on Saturday morning it was 3,84,400 cusecs. Gradually, the flood subsided to some extent by Saturday evening, according to officials.
Explaining the flow at the Medigadda Barrage officials said a flow of 41,200 cusecs was noticed on July 15, 41,200 cusecs on July 16, 49,500 cusecs on July 17, 53,400 cusecs on July 18, 3,41,000 cusecs on July 19 and 2,80,000 cusecs on July 20. The heavy flood is also coming from the upper regions due to heavy rains in Maharashtra.
The flow has also increased at Annaram Barrage upstream of Medigadda. According to officials, the NDSA has warned that water should not be stored if the flood flow is more than 12,500 cusecs.
