Minor Irrigation Tanks in State Drying Up
In all, 17,677 MI tanks in the state, as on October 3, have less than 50 per cent of their storage, with 12,944 of them having either no water, or with water that is less than a quarter of what they can normally store.
Hyderabad:Much of rural Telangana could be heading towards water stress with more than half of 21,500 minor irrigation tanks monitored by the irrigation department having zero storages, or scraping their bottoms having less than 25 per cent of their normal water storage.
In all, 17,677 MI tanks in the state, as on October 3, have less than 50 per cent of their storage, with 12,944 of them having either no water, or with water that is less than a quarter of what they can normally store. The 21,500 MI tanks, in good times, are capable of holding 253.80 tmcft of water, but this year, the total storage has fallen to a dismal 94.30 tmc ft, as per irrigation department’s data.
While the irrigation department monitors 21,500 MI tanks, according to the Telangana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Commission, which some time ago submitted its report on saving these tanks to the state government, the state has around 46,000 such water bodies.
Coupled with predicted fall in ground water levels because of an expected poor rainfall for the rest of this year with the agriculture department expecting the levels to fall up to 6 metres and more in some districts due to extraction pressures, the falling storages in MI tanks - which also contribute to ground water reserves – are expected to become a cause for concern in the weeks to come.
That the situation is a matter of concern was also raised by irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy in the recent Legislative Assembly session this September. During a short duration discussion on El Nino and its impact on Telangana, the minister had said that of Telangana’s 44,034 tanks, 40 per cent of them had less than a quarter of their normal water storage.
With no further significant rains on the horizon and the India Meteorological Department already predicting that Telangana will receive less than normal rain for the rest of the year in the post-southwest monsoon period, the existing storages are not expected to receive any significant additions, according to officials.
Drying up
Storage – Mi Tanks
75-100% - 674
50-75% - 3,149
25-50% - 4,733
0-25% - 6,467
0% - 6,477
Total capacity – 253.80 tmc ft
Current storage – 94.30 tmc ft