8 months ago
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For Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), which manages the operations and inferior of Osmansagar and Himayatasagar reservoirs, the 2025 Hyderabad floods punctual the 1960s.
As aboriginal arsenic the past week of July, the duplicate reservoirs were astir afloat and filling astir 100 to 300 cusecs. For a afloat vessel level of 1,790 feet, the h2o level astatine Osmansagar was conscionable abbreviated of 2 feet. So was Himayatsagar, astatine 1,761 feet for its FTL 1,763.
But connected September 26 (Friday), astatine the highest of the season, the recorded reservoir numbers astatine 10 a.m. appeared to beryllium multiplied by 10. The inflows were 3,000 cusecs and 2,800 cusecs respectively. And the outflows, with 2 gates lifted to conscionable 2 feet, were astatine 460 cusecs and astir 2,000 cusecs.
In the adjacent hour, the Board had news. The much-awaited inaugural ceremonial of Amberpet sewerage attraction works by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was being postponed owed to dense rains, it said. But by 12.20 p.m., it had breaking news: “flood warning”, combined discharge from some reservoirs volition beryllium astatine 12,000 cusecs — 5,000 cusecs from Osmansagar and 7,000 cusecs from Himayatsagar.
With incessant rains successful the catchment, signaling an mean rainfall of 130 mm and a maximum of 175 mm rainfall successful Vikarabad, the reservoirs kept receiving much volumes of flood, and the numbers grew.
According to HMWS&SB, “the past clip 15 gates of Osmansagar were operated for 9 feet tallness was 60 years ago, successful 1962 and 1965. And a combined outflow of implicit 34,000 cusecs too.”
On Friday, the Board had besides issued different flood informing astatine astir 5 p.m. and said astir 26,000 cusecs volition beryllium discharged.
The river’s spate lone continued, and astatine 8 p.m., the full discharge was 29,557 cusecs. A grounds combined inflow of 40,000 cusecs - 16,000 cusecs astatine Osman Sagar and 24,000 cusecs astatine Himayatasagar was astatine 10 p.m. And astatine 5 a.m. connected Saturday, the outflows breached the 34,000-mark, the maximum.
The gates astatine Osmansagar remained unfastened to their maximum 9 feet till the evening connected Saturday, and arsenic astatine 8 p.m., arsenic per the past disposable figures, the combined inflows came down to astir 12,000 cusecs and the combined outflow was 10,027 cusecs.
A operation of quality expertise, precocious technology, and coordination with assorted departments, the Board said, was connected show for the palmy operation.
“Such large-scale cognition of the gates was not done successful the caller past. In 2010, 8 gates were raised by 7 feet, successful 2021, six gates were operated by 3 feet, and it was 13 gates to a tallness of six feet successful 2022. In 2023 and 2024, six gates were raised by 4 feet and 2 feet only,” a elder authoritative citing the records informed.
Water Board officials monitored the flood reaching Osmansagar astatine Shankarpally bridge, astir 25 km away, and astatine Venkatapur and Amdapur villages successful the upstream for Himayatsagar.
“While h2o level astatine Shankarpally span has not crossed 10 feet successful the past 25 years, the Musi watercourse towards Osmansagar present touched an antithetic 16.5 feet height. Also, towards Himayatsagar, the Esi watercourse astatine Amdapur touched 18 feet height, replacing the 25-year precocious of 14 feet height,” this authoritative explained.
