ANANTAPUR: After a long gap of 40 years, the Madakasira big tank was overflowing on Friday due to the heavy rainfall in Anantapur district in the past 15 days.
The tank is located in the south-west corner of the state adjacent to Karnataka borders. The highest peak of the state was unable to get water flow from local sources.
The tank was dependent on rainwater carried by nearby canals of Karnataka and it remained as the major drinking water source for Madakasira municipality and nearby villages for decades. Borewells drilled in the tanks were being used to serve drinking water to people of the town from a distance of 3km.
In addition to the heavy rainfall, the second phase of Handri Neeva Sujala Shravathi irrigation project from Gollapalli reservoir that takes water to Madakasira area helped the tank get a large quantity of water after four decades.
The people of Madakasira celebrated the occasion while other areas of the state have lesser water sources and there has been a depletion of ground water sources and drought during the past few decades.
Balaram, a software engineer working in the US recalled the time 40 years ago when he was a student at the government high school in Madakasira. “This is a special occasion for my hometown. Entire townspeople celebrated when they saw the tank overflowing 40 years ago, and now, again, the big tank is over-flowing”, he noted.
Madakasira MLA Thippeswamy and former MLC and TD leader Gundumala Thippeswamy visited the tank. Both parties are claiming they managed to bring Krishna water to the tail end and to the highest peak of AP.
MLA Thippeswamy said the tank bund area would be developed as a tourist spot. A master plan was prepared after chief minister Jagan gave his nod for a tourism centre closer to the big tank.
