From recurring floods to silt: How SRSP is losing its capacity

THE Sriram Sagar Project (SRSP), built on the river Godavari at Pochampad in Nizamabad, is often hailed as Telangana Vara Pradayani—a lifeline that irrigates over a million acres across five erstwhile districts. But today, the mighty reservoir is quietly losing its strength, not to drought, but to floods and the silt they bring along.

- MVK SASTRY @Nizamabad

Recurring floods have led to severe soil erosion, stripping catchment areas of fertility and steadily filling SRSP with layers of sand, gravel, clay, and silt. Once capable of storing 112 tmcft, the reservoir first showed signs of decline in 1994 when its capacity dropped to 90.3 tmcft. By 2022, it had shrunk further to 80 tmcft.