All the reservoirs at Tirumala — the sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara — have registered a significant increase in their storage capacities, thanks to the active southwest monsoon that brought in copious rains.
The town that receives maximum rainfall during the northeast monsoon, between October and mid-December, has registered a surplus rainfall in the moth of July for the first time in decades.
The combined reserves of all five drinking water projects in the town is pinned at about 85% of their total capacity.
While the Papavinasanam reservoir — the biggest of all the projects — is 100% full, the Kumaradhara dam has registered 98% reserves followed by the Pasupudhara (95%), Akasaganga (30%) and Gogarbham (50%).
Till the late seventies, the daily water requirements of the rain-fed town was met by the Gogarbham dam. But as the town expanded due to the increased footfall of pilgrims, the temple administration undertook the construction of four dams over the years, all of which, unfortunately, proved inadequate.
The town depended heavily on the Telugu Ganga water drawn from Kandaleru reservoir in Nellore as the requirement of the town increased to 35 lakh gallons per day. The water is pumped to Kailasagiri reservoir in Sri Kalahasti and is then lifted to Tirupati, from where it is again pumped up to Tirumala.
But having seen copious rainfall already and with more anticipated in the coming months, the flood gates of Papavinasanam dam were partially lifted on July 27 and water released downstream.
TTD Additional EO A.V. Dharma Reddy, who said that the current water reserves were sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the town for about 300 days, ordered for more water to be drawn from the reservoirs for its daily needs.
