Guntur: The people of Palnadu region of Guntur district are facing severe water shortage not only for drinking but also for regular use. The crisis is so serious that people bathe once in three-four days and are also migrating to other areas unable to live without water in the Palnadu villages like Vinukonda, Bollapalli and others. The water ponds and water storage have dried up and the groundwater is also unavailable despite digging borewells upto 1,200 feet depth.
Earlier, people used get water from ground motors in the farmlands but the groundwater has also dried up increasing the difficulties of the public. Drought like conditions prevail in Vinukonda where the public are getting drinking water once in five days. Drinking water is supplied once in three days in Chilakaluripeta, once in two days in Narasaraopeta, Sattenapalli, Macharla and other areas of Palnadu.
The population of Vinukonda is 59,000 and the drinking water source is Singara Cheruvu which is totally dry. The municipality is supplying drinking water through tankers once in five days and that is far from enough.
Locals, N. Siva and others lamented that the condition has totally worsened and they were taking bath once in five or seven days depending on the availability of water. They blamed it on the dried up water resources and said that they were experiencing this drought like situation for the first time.
B. Nagaraju and others added that some people are going to houses of relatives in Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and other areas on Saturday and Sunday to bathe and wash clothes. The 1.2 lakh population in Chilakaluripeta usually depended on two water storages but, both of them have dried.
The municipality is supplying drinking water once in three days through tankers. The population of Macharla and Sattenapalli is 60,000 each and Narasaraopeta’s population is 1.16 lakh. Locals in these towns are getting drinking water once in two days in small quantity.
Narasaraopeta was the only municipality in the district which used to supply drinking water two times per day. But, here too water storage is fast drying up.
Locals, K Venkataramana and others said that Narasaraopeta’s residents had been getting drinking water twice a day for the past 18 years and this is the first time they are experiencing dry conditions.
The conditions have totally worsened in Remidicharla and other areas of Bollapalli where drinking water and ground water are unavailable despite digging 1,200 meters deep borewells. The locals, G. Ramana Rao and others said that farmers are planning to sell their buffaloes and sheep unable to provide drinking water to them and some are migrating to other areas.
Dried tanks escalate water crisis in Guntur
There are 238 water storage ponds in Guntur district which depend on Sagar canal and majority of them have dried. Water problems in Palnadu can be solved to an extend if these tanks are filled. Dry conditions are prevailing in 28 mandals of the district.
There are 13,433 bore wells in Guntur district in which 2,687 are not working. Majority of the remaining bores are not giving enough water as the ground water levels are declining. Though the government released Rs 9 crore to resolve water difficulties, RWS has sought Rs 2.50 crore more.
