Just over two months ago, Almatti, one of the major reservoirs of the State, had reached dead storage level. Following heavy rain in the Krishna catchment area, the dam has now attained its full storage capacity.
The dam had not filled to capacity last year owing to deficit rain, but filled up this year before July end. “Normally, the dam fills up only by mid August,” said an official of Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd. (KBJNL).
With the water level reaching storage capacity of 519 m, and water gushing into the dam every day from the Western Ghats, KBJNL officials have opened all 26 crest gates to discharge water. The official informed that the dam received 95,656 cusecs of water on Tuesday and an equal quantum discharged through the gates.
Considering the increased water level, the government has ordered release of water to canals for irrigation.
Meanwhile, the Irrigation Advisory Committee has appealed to farmers to cultivate more short-term and less water-intensive crops instead of paddy and sugarcane.
Power generation
The heavy inflow of water has allowed the regeneration of power at the generation unit on the right side of the dam. The unit, which had remained non-functional owing to depleted water in the dam, started generating 250 MW of power using 40,000 cusecs, which was discharged to the unit on Friday.
