Relief for farmers as SRSP water released
The Irrigation department finally brought relief to the farmers by announcing the release of water from from the Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP) Second Phase on Wednesday.
At around 5 pm, officials lifted the gates at the Bayyannavagu Balancing Reservoir located in Kodakandla mandal of Jangaon district and released water as the fifth phase under the Warabandi system. Initially, 1,200 cusecs of water were released, which entered Suryapet district near Velishala in Tirumalagiri mandal of Tungaturthi constituency.
The water is now flowing toward several areas in Tungaturthi, Suryapet, and Kodad constituencies through distributaries numbered 69, 70, and 71. Officials stated that the water discharge is expected to be increased to 1,700 cusecs by Thursday. According to Irrigation department officials, the Bayyannavagu Balancing Reservoir has a total storage capacity of 0.480 TMC, while the current storage stands at about 0.437 TMC. Officials from the Tirumalagiri Division 2 of the Irrigation department explained that only about 650 cusecs of water is currently flowing into the reservoir from the upstream balancing reservoir located near Mailaram in Rayaparthy mandal of Warangal Rural district. However, by the time it reaches Suryapet district, around 1,200 cusecs of water has been released.
As per the earlier schedule, water was supposed to be released to Suryapet district on the 8th of this month as part of the fifth phase of the Warabandi system.
However, the release was postponed to the 9th. During this period, a tragic incident occurred in which two people fell into the upper canal of the SRSP First Phase and died, forcing authorities to temporarily halt water supply to both the first and second phase canals.
Due to these circumstances, officials were left with limited options, resulting in a delay of nearly a week in water supply to Suryapet district.
The situation caused serious concern among farmers, who had been waiting for irrigation water. Farmers made numerous phone calls to irrigation officials and other authorities seeking clarity on when the water would be released. At one stage, the number of calls became overwhelming for officials.
Eventually, farmers staged protests on Tuesday by organising a road blockade on the Suryapet–Jangaon national highway in Nagaram mandal, demanding the immediate release of irrigation water. The release of water on Wednesday evening has now brought some relief to the distressed farming community.
