Drought-like scenario in 457 Telangana mandals; El Nino keeps water levels in reservoirs low, hydel generation hit

Published 27 July 2026 · local

HYDERABAD The impact of El Nino conditions not only in Telangana but also in the upstream catchments areas of the Krishna and Godavari rivers in

HYDERABAD The impact of El Nino conditions not only in Telangana but also in the upstream catchments areas of the Krishna and Godavari rivers in Karnataka and Maharashtra have affected the Kharif cultivation in the Telangana and keeping the water levels in major, medium and minor reservoirs/water bodies at either rock bottom or very low. Drought-like scenario in 457 out of 621 mandals Scanty rainfall across the State this monsoon season has pushed nearly 74% (457) of the 621 mandals into drought-like scenario with 399 mandals recording deficient (-20% to -59% against the normal) rainfall and another 58 mandals receiving large deficient (-60% to -99%) rainfall till July 26. The 457 mandals include 13 deficient and 2 large deficient mandals in Hyderabad and the remaining 442 mandals are spread across the 32 rural districts.

Projects in Godavari basin The severity of the poor rainfall in the catchment areas of Godavari in Maharashtra and to some extent in Karnataka is depicted in the fact that none of the major and medium irrigation projects in the basin in Telangana have received even 5 tmc ft of flood in nearly two months of the season. Projects in Krishna basin The picture is no different either for the Krishna basin projects with only Nagarjunasagar project getting about 20 tmc ft inflows, thanks mainly to the rains in the local catchment areas. And, the other projects have not received even 5 tmc ft each of flood so far. Godavari river is getting some encouraging flood from Pranahita and other tributaries in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, but joins the main river course only from Kaleshwaram confluence point.

However, encouraging scenario is emerging in the Krishna basin as Almatti, Tungabhadra, Narayanpur and Ghataprabha reservoirs have received some quantifiable flood allowing Almatti and Narayanpur dams discharge flood downstream. According to officials of the Irrigation department, Almatti has received about 120 tmc ft and Narayanpur nearly 30 tmc ft flood so far. In the downstream, Jurala project in Telangana, the gateway of Krishna river for Telugu States, has started receiving flood from the early hours of Sunday (July 26, 2026). Hydel generation takes a hit There was a huge spike in the energy consumption in July (6,699 million units in 25 days of July). However, hydel generation has taken a hit badly as a result of poor inflows into Jurala and Srisailam reservoirs this season.