Flood Alert at Krishna: Prakasam Barrage Gates Fully Opened in Andhra Pradesh

swift Summary

• Flood Alert at Prakasam Barrage: Andhra Pradesh’s Water Resources Department (WRD) issued its first flood warning of the monsoon season as flood discharge at the Krishna River’s Prakasam Barrage crossed 3.97 lakh cusecs on Tuesday morning.
• Increasing Inflows: Heavy releases from upstream reservoirs like Almatti, Narayanapur, Srisailam, Nagarjuna Sagar, and Pulichinthala are expected to raise inflows to nearly 6 lakh cusecs.
• Gate Malfunction: Engineers reported that Gate 69 at Prakasam Barrage could not be raised due to prior damage sustained during floods last year; repairs will commence once flood levels recede. However, officials assured effective discharge management. By evening, 69 gates were lifted to release downstream water totaling 4,68,720 cusecs.
• Reservoir Storage Levels Rising: Major Andhra Pradesh reservoirs are storing 80.17% of their gross capacity this year compared to 73.03% in the same period last year.
• Regulated Releases: Key reservoirs like Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar are nearing full capacity but still have limited flood cushions available for inflow management during heavy rainfall.
• High Discharges in Krishna and Godavari Basins: The Prakasam and Sir Arthur Cotton Barrages have reached full storage capacities while maintaining balanced inflows and outflows exceeding several lakhs of cusecs.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The increased inflows into Andhra pradesh’s major reservoir systems indicate robust water availability this monsoon but also underscore critical risks associated with extreme weather events. The state is effectively managing high discharges through regulated releases from multiple barrages despite structural vulnerabilities such as Gate 69’s malfunction at the Prakasam Barrage.

With reservoir storage levels already surpassing those recorded last year by a significant margin (77.64% versus last year’s 69.79%), careful monitoring and preemptive measures should mitigate flooding impacts on downstream areas near low-lying habitations along the Krishna River basin.

Though officials maintain control over current challenges-including maintenance issues-continuous vigilance remains essential as further rise in inflow levels is anticipated across vital river systems like Krishna and Godavari basins later this monsoon season.

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