Revanth To Review Drought Situation in the State
Deficient rainfall and low tank storage raise concerns over crops, drinking water and power supply.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will review the drought situation in Telangana due to the impact of El Nino at a special Cabinet meeting on Monday. The meeting will also review the state of agriculture, irrigation, drinking water supply and rising power demand, among other issues.
The meeting assumes significance as the state faces the fallout of a deficient monsoon, declining water storage in major irrigation projects and minor irrigation tanks, and mounting concerns over water availability for standing crops and drinking purposes in the coming months.
Telangana received 615.5 mm of rainfall against the normal 740.6 mm during the southwest monsoon season, ending September 30, recording a deficit of 17 per cent. Though the state remained in the India Meteorological Department's normal rainfall category, 18 of the 33 districts received deficient rainfall. Around 235 mandals have been identified as facing drought-like conditions, raising concerns over crop losses and rural livelihoods.
The extent of water stress is evident from the storage levels in minor irrigation tanks. Of the 21,500 tanks monitored across Telangana, 17,677 had less than 50 per cent of their storage capacity as of October 3. As many as 12,944 had either dried up or contained less than a quarter of their normal storage. The total storage in these tanks had fallen to 94.30 tmc ft against their combined capacity of 253.80 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft).
Farmers in several districts are staging protests against frequent and unscheduled interruptions in three-phase power supply, alleging that outages are disrupting irrigation and damaging pump-set motors.
The state government has already adopted a resolution in the Legislative Assembly seeking the declaration of drought-affected mandals and adequate financial assistance from the Centre. It has sought a special package of Rs 20,000 crore to help address the rainfall deficit and support affected farmers.
The Cabinet is expected to review immediate relief measures, the drought subcommittee's action plan and suggestions from the all-party meeting, farmers' organisations and experts to minimise crop losses and manage available water and power resources.
