State Ready to Face El Nino Challenges: Uttam
The state government has put in place a comprehensive contingency plan
HYDERABAD: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday said it was time for Telangana to manage its available water resources carefully, adding that in the wake of the threat posed by El Nino this year and its impact on the monsoon rainfall, the state government has put in place a comprehensive contingency plan.
Addressing a meeting on climate change at an event that brought together leading voices from academia, civil society, government and industry, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Telangana government was actively preparing to tackle the challenges posed by deficient rainfall and increasing uncertainty over availability of water resources.
“People should be able to trust that their government has planned ahead, acted with care and stood with them, whether the rains arrive on time or not,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
“As someone responsible for irrigation, food and civil supplies, I can say we are already facing the uncertainties created by climate change,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said. He added that since the Congress government assumed office in December 2023, Telangana had experienced nearly two years of favourable monsoons, ensuring healthy reservoir storage, stable irrigation and adequate drinking water availability. “However, the present season has marked a significant departure from that trend,” he said.
The government, he said, was not waiting for the crisis to deepen before taking action. Instead, departments dealing with irrigation, agriculture, drinking water and civil supplies were coordinating contingency measures to minimise the impact of a poor monsoon on farmers and the people at large.
He also pointed out that time has come to discard the practice relying on past monsoons data, or assuming that similar patterns will repeat. Irrigation systems need to be redesigned around climate variability rather than historical averages. “The way forward lies in shifting from post-crisis management to anticipatory planning, supported by real-time reservoir operations, scientific decision-making,” he said.
Water, he said, is the “foundation of food security, rural stability and the wider economic resilience of Telangana and India,. If governments fail to manage water effectively under climate stress, agriculture, industrial development, urban water security, investments and long-term economic growth will all come under pressure.”
Expressing concern at falling groundwater levels, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the impact of this can be seen in Hyderabad. “Earlier, groundwater was available at depths of around 50 to 100 feet. Today, in many parts of Hyderabad, it has gone down to nearly 1,000 feet. This is a matter of serious concern,” he said.
