With the water levels rising in the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, several villages in Kurnool and Guntur districts located along the course of the rivers have been put on flood alert.
According to Deccan Chronicle, the Tungabhadra dam in Ballari district, Karnataka, which has a capacity of 100.84 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet), presently has 89.11 tmc ft of water.
Further, with the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers being diverted to Srisailam, water is being released to Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir from the Srisailam dam. On Monday, all 26 crest gates of Nagarjuna Sagar Project were lifted, reportedly, for the first time in a decade.
With all 33 gates of the Tungabhadra dam being lifted, over 2.12 lakh cusecs of water is being released into the river. As a precautionary measure, Kurnool district officials have declared a school holiday on Tuesday on Wednesday in low-lying areas in various mandals, including Kowthalam, Kosigi, Matralayam, C Belagal, Kurnool, Nandikotkur, Pagidiyala, and Kothapalli.
On the other hand, outflows from Nagarjuna Sagar dam have been filling up the Pulichintala project, with water levels reaching 25 tmc ft in the reservoir of 45 tmc ft capacity. According to the Hindu, people from low-lying areas downstream of Pulichintala have already been evacuated, Guntur District Collector said. People in Vellampalli, Govindapuram, Regulagadda villages have reportedly been moved to schools in villages in safer locations.
Meanwhile, heavy rains are expected in coastal Andhra in the next two days, with the IMD issuing a warning up to Wednesday morning. The rains are expected in isolated places in the north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari.
In the last two weeks, heavy downpour in the catchment area of Godavari basin and incessant rains had triggered floods in the East and West Godavari districts. The floods have affected nearly a lakh people. Around 19,000 were who were evacuated from low-lying areas were moved to relief camps.