Hyderabad: The forest department officials will be installing new solar pumps that can fill water into kuntas (small tanks) during the dry season.
While there is enough water in the rainy season, water scarcity begins gradually from the month of November and gets worse from January onwards.
By the time summer arrives, most water bodies in the forested areas are dry. A senior wildlife expert from the department said it is the search for water that takes wild animals into villages. “The visit of the wild guest results in crop destruction or cattle kills etc. The wild animals are also exposed to danger by coming out of the forest. So the forest department has decided to install solar pumps that will serve about four grids located adjacent to each other.”
He added, “A wild animal can travel for at least 5 sq km to find water every day. So the perennial water bodies play a crucial role from the month of February to June. The water bodies which are perennial are being considered by us as water bodies and we are not taking the seasonal water bodies into account. We have decided to create at least 50 water bodies with the support of solar pumps.”
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, PCCF (IT) P. Raghuveer said, “Protecting wildlife is our duty. To ensure there is no water scarcity in the forest we are mapping all the grids that don’t have water bodies so that we can create water bodies wherever they are needed. There are many incidents of wild animals being rescued from wells in villages. The animals come out in search of water. We don’t want to expose them to such dangers.”
