Kurnool, Oct 1 :
Following good inflows in the Krishna River, water was released from Srisailam dam on Thursday by opening 10 of its crest-gates for the first time this year by rising to a height of 40 ft to release the water. A heavy inflow of 9,13,400 lakh cusecs of water was flowing into the dam from upper reaches of the Krishna and out of this, nearly 5,50,000 lakh cusecs was being released into Nagarjunasagar.
The improved storage in the two dams was set to give a big boost to power generation. AP Genco was now in a position to operate at full capacity, all the hydel stations at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar which together have an installed capacity of over 2,600 MW. As a result, hydel generation increased from 10 million units a day to 53 mu.
The improved storages brightened prospects of augmenting release of water into Nagarjunasagar’s right and left bank canals for irrigation. At present, water was being released into the canals only to cater to drinking water needs in five districts.
Now, it was getting an inflow of 66,000 cusecs while the storage in the reservoir touched 510-ft, the minimum level prescribed for power generation and also for release of water into its canal system.