Water levels in State projects and reservoirs are dropping due to low rainfall last monsoon season. 14 major reservoirs in Krishna and Godavari basins are almost at dead storage level. In Jurala, under Krishna basin, current inflow is only 154.05 tmcft, down from previous years. Srisailam’s storage is at 34.38 tmcft, lower than last year’s 32.33 tmcft. Nagarjunasagar reservoir had 166.78 tmcft last year, now only 137.52 tmcft.
Nagarjunasagar needs 50 tmcft for crop cultivation, but only has 35 tmcft available. Projects in Godavari basin, like SRSP and Sripada-Yellampalli, also have low water levels compared to previous years. Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Singur, Manjira, and Akkampally reservoirs in Hyderabad have seen significant declines in water levels, affecting drinking water supply. Currently, 25.38 tmcft is available in these reservoirs, down from 29.712 tmcft last year.
Officials attribute the drop in water levels to changing climatic conditions and deficit rainfall.