Water levels decline in major Telangana reservoirs

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Water levels in Telangana’s major reservoirs have dropped sharply ahead of the Kharif season, raising concerns among farmers and irrigation officials. With the southwest monsoon yet to gain momentum across the state, inflows into key projects in the Krishna and Godavari river basins remain far below expectations.

According to the latest Irrigation Department data, Telangana’s major reservoirs have a combined storage capacity of 793.94 TMC, but current water availability stands at only 283.56 TMC, or about 35.7 percent of total capacity.

The situation is particularly worrying in the Krishna basin. The Srisailam reservoir, with a capacity of 215.81 TMC, currently holds only 39.67 TMC, while Nagarjunasagar contains 148.73 TMC against its full capacity of 312.05 TMC. Lower-than-normal storage in upstream reservoirs such as Almatti and Narayanpur has also affected inflows into Telangana projects.

In the Godavari basin, several reservoirs are reporting low storage levels. Sriramsagar has only 15.99 TMC of water against its capacity of 80.50 TMC. Nizamsagar, Mid Manair, Lower Manair and Kadem projects are also recording significantly reduced reserves.

The declining water levels come at a crucial time as farmers prepare for Kharif sowing. Telangana cultivates more than one crore acres during the season each year. While irrigation demand remains limited for now, officials warn that inadequate rainfall in the coming weeks could affect both agricultural operations and drinking water supply.

Authorities are closely monitoring reservoir conditions and banking on widespread monsoon rains during the second half of June to improve storage levels and support Kharif cultivation.