Hyderabad: In order to utilise minor irrigation water resources for agricultural needs in areas covered by the Integraged Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), where a majority of the population belongs to the Scheduled Tribes, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday instructed irrigation and electricity officials department to chalk out an action plan.
The plan includes utilisation of water resources like ponds and canals for cultivation. As the land is uneven, water may be supplied through pipelines.
During a review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan, Mr Rao said land which is not receiving water from major projects should be provided water from minor irrigation sources.
The podu lands issue would be resolved shortly and clarity attained on the area of cultivable land present in those areas. A better action plan should be drawn up so that ST farmers would benefit by receiving water for agriculture, he said. The undivided districts of Khammam, Warangal, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Mahbubnagar and Nalgonda, where the majority of ST habitations are present, have 46,500 tanks, 12,154 of them in a chain, and receive good rainfall. Feeder canals, sluice canals may be constructed to divert rainwater into these tanks, Mr Rao said.
Based on this, officials were asked to identify the area which receives water from major irrigation sources and plan construction of check dams for full-fledged supply of water to the remaining areas.
He asked officials to study medium irrigation projects of Adilabad districts and prepare a report and the Vattivagu and Laturu Gandi tanks on the Pinapaka.
