Six Gates of Himayatsagar Lifted as Lake Overflows, IMD Gives Orange Alert

Hyderabad: The incessant rain over the past week left Himayatsagar, one of the city’s twin reservoirs, flooded following which six radial gates of the reservoir were opened by the water board in a 24-hour span.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) had already lifted two gates on Friday due to heavy flooding and opened four more gates on Saturday to release water downstream.

Officials said that 4,120 cusecs of floodwater were released into the Musi River through the six gates of the reservoir and 300 cusecs of water were released into Osmansagar reservoir, leaving it almost near the full mark.

Osmansagar, presently, is filled till 2.98 TMC ft against the capacity of 3.9 TMC ft, while the tank level is 1785.85, against the full tank level of 1,790 feet.

Many districts, including Bhadradri Kothagudem, Jangaon, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mahbubad, Mulugu, Vikarabad, Yadadri Bhuvangiri, Adilabad and Mahbubnagar recorded isolated spells of light to moderate rain, getting a much-needed respite.

According to the Telangana State and Development Planning Society reports, the highest rainfall in the state was recorded in Vikarabad, at 46.3 mm, followed by Adilabad, at 37 mm and Mahbubnagar, at 31 mm.

In the city limits, the highest rainfall was in Kukatpally, at 4 mm, followed by Quthbullapur, at 3.3 mm, and Trimulgherry, at 2 mm.

The IMD said that the low-pressure area over south Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh and adjoining northwest and west-central Bay of Bengal had become less marked. The associated cyclonic circulation lay over southeast Vidarbha and adjoining south Chhattisgarh, extending up to 4.5 km above mean sea level, and the cyclonic circulation over south Chhattisgarh extending up to 1.2 km above mean sea level had merged.

The shear zone currently runs roughly along latitude 20 degree north between 3.1 and 5.8 km above mean sea level, tilting southwards with height, officials said.

In addition, a fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over the northwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal off south Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh around July 24.

Light to moderate rains or thundershowers are very likely to occur in most districts over the next week.

A two-day yellow alert was issued by the IMD for the districts of Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapally, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Bhadrari Kothagudem, Mahbubabad, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Khammam, Suryapet, Siddipet and Vikarabad, with heavy rain and thunderstorms, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds of around 30-40 kmph, very likely to occur.

An orange alert, for July 25 and 26, was also given for Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet and Mahbubabad.

In the next 48 hours, the city will experience light to moderate rains or thundershowers, with intermittent intense spells. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 30 degrees Celsius (°C) and 23°C, respectively, with south-westerly surface winds of 10-12 kmph speed.