> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://newsanek.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Rural Telangana faces water shortage as reservoir levels fall - URL: https://newsanek.com/rural-telangana-water-crisis-reservoirs-fall/ - Published: 2026-11-11T12:33:55.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-11T12:50:25.000Z - Description: Reservoirs in the Krishna and Godavari basins hold far less water than usual. Officials say the Singur project has about one month left, and rural supply could also be hit. - Author: Kumar Ujjwal - Tags: India, Telangana, Explainer, #state-telangana, #state-desk, #region-south, #sm-52, #smemo-fear Water shortages could spread beyond Hyderabad into rural Telangana. Officials say reservoir levels are falling across the state. The reason is simple. Rain has been short, and very little water is flowing into the reservoirs. Irrigation department data show the combined storage in the Krishna and Godavari river basins is 408 tmcft. A tmcft is a thousand million cubic feet of water. That is well below the 10-year average of 681 tmcft. Last year, the reservoirs held 826 tmcft. ### Key points - Combined storage in the two basins is 408 tmcft, below the 10-year average of 681 tmcft. - The Singur project has only about one month of water left. - Mission Bhagiratha supplies water to about 2.1 crore rural residents and 65 to 70 lakh urban people. - The state has ruled out releasing water from major projects for farming in the Rabi season. ## Why does this matter for ordinary people? Hyderabad draws water daily from the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir. The city's water board hopes the reserves will last until next summer. Drinking water in rural areas is also at risk. The Mission Bhagiratha scheme depends on the Krishna and Godavari reservoirs. ## Which reservoirs are under the most pressure? Nagarjuna Sagar is 38 percent full, and Srisailam is 27 percent full. ![Nagarjuna Sagar Interstate bridge](https://newsanek.com/content/images/2026/11/rural-telangana-water-crisis-reservoirs-fall-5d5a58.jpg) Representative photo: Nagarjuna Sagar Interstate bridge. Photo: iMahesh / [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ANagarjuna%5FSagar%5FInterstate%5Fbridge.jpg?ref=newsanek.com), CC BY-SA 4.0 Sriram Sagar is 44 percent full, while Sripada Yellampally is at 57 percent. Reservoir levels across Telangana Nagarjuna Sagar38 Srisailam27 Sriram Sagar44 Sripada Yellampally57 % Graphic: News Anek, from the facts in this report Officials say some reservoirs can meet drinking needs until next summer. This is only if their water is kept for drinking and not diverted for irrigation. Sripada Yellampally also supplies the NTPC thermal power station and the Singareni power plant. This adds to the competing demands on its water. ## What happens next with water sharing? Farmers protested last month. They want water from the Jurala and Kaddam projects in the Godavari basin. The Krishna River Management Board has asked Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for original project details. These include approvals, designs and canal capacities for Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar. The board will examine later changes and extra water needs. It has said this exercise will not affect the rights or claims of either state. Explainer ### What happened before - Last year, reservoirs in the Krishna and Godavari basins held 826 tmcft of water, well above the 10-year average. - In 2021, a Centre's notification identified 11 unauthorised components in the Srisailam project and two in the Nagarjuna Sagar project. - On October 15, the Union Jal Shakti ministry said the 2016 allocations of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal would remain the basis for assessment. ### Why it matters Mission Bhagiratha, which supplies drinking water to millions of rural and urban residents, depends on these reservoirs. ### What to watch next - The Krishna River Management Board has asked Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to submit original project details for Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar. - The board will examine later changes and extra water needs before deciding anything, and it says this will not affect either state's claims. --- ### Sources - [hyderabadmail: Rural Telangana faces water crisis as reservoirs fall; Singur has one month’s supply](https://hyderabadmail.com/telangana-water-crisis-reservoir-levels-singur-water-supply/?ref=newsanek.com)