In the early hours of Thursday, July 27, the Telangana Irrigation Department faced a crisis as the Kadem reservoir in Nirmal district came close to breaching its dam due to heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. The situation was brought under control as the rains subsided later in the afternoon, and repairs are underway to fix the faulty motors that caused the issue. Four out of 18 gates of the dam were affected, resulting in water rising to 700 feet in height, just below the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 700 feet. The reservoir, which is a tributary of the Godavari River, flows across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
However, as rains subsided by afternoon, the situation was brought under control, and repairs are also ongoing to fix the motors. Visuals from the project showed water flowing heavily and dangerously above the height of the bridge built on one of the gates. Local MLA Rekha Naik, who was present there at the time, made a run for their safety after realising the peril they were in.
“The flood water is receding and it is currently safe. Four gates were not opening as there was some problem in the motors. Those motors were tested by the department in the summer when we were checking the gates. Right now the motors of the four gates are being fixed, and the bridge is not meant for public use so there is no danger. It is only used by our engineers,” said a senior official from the Irrigation department who did not want to be quoted.
According to a press release from the Telangana government on Thursday, July 27, water level of the reservoir is gradually decreasing as outflows from the dam were higher (2.34 lakh cusecs) than the inflows (2.14 lakh cusecs).
In the last 48 hours, parts of the state recorded very heavy rainfall, crossing 600 millimeters Chityal of Jayshankar-Bhupalapally district. Data from the Telangana State Planning Development Society showed that Nirmal district, in which the Kadem reservoir is, recorded rainfall between 115.6 to 204.4 mm. On Thursday alone between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Nirmal district’s 204.4 mm was the highest recorded rainfall.
In Hyderabad, state Municipal Administration and Urban Development minister KT Rama Rao (KT), along with officials from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Police and Irrigation department visited the Hussainsagar lake, Tank Bund, and the Chaderghat bridge (which is low-lying and in danger of getting flooded due to heavy rains) to observe water levels. KTR instructed GHMC officials to stay on high alert and prevent casualty in case emergency arises, said a press release.
On Thursday, July 27, the GHMC’s Disaster Management team also demolished a wall that was in danger of collapsing in Jubilee Hills. Since morning on the same day, GHMC teams cleared 24 trees that fell, 20 cases of water stagnation and two wall collapses. The city, which witnessed heavy showers a day earlier, was relatively calm as rains eased up, with 31 mm being the highest rains recorded at Shaikpet in the city until 4 pm.