Action plan announced to tackle water crisis in AP

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao on Thursday announced an action plan to meet the scarcity of drinking water in the state this summer. “During the season, till now two TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water has been released from Srisailam reservoir to meet drinking water requirement of Krishna and Guntur districts”, he said.

Rao said he has written to Krishna Water Board to release another two TMC water for the two districts and hoped that the Board will take a positive decision on it. “Krishna Water Board has released 4.5 TMC (water) from Nagarjunasagar reservoir to meet drinking water demand in Guntur and Prakasam districts. Water from Rallapadu reservoir would be supplied to Prakasam and Nellore. Collectors of both the districts have been instructed to co-ordinate with each other on utilising the water for drinking purposes”, he said.

Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam district administrations have been asked to utilise water from Vamsadhara and Nagavali reservoirs. Viskhapatnam City will be supplied one TMC water from Eleru reservoir. Rao said many of the tanks in Rayalaseema have adequate water collected from the unseasonal rains of last November, which will be sufficient for the four districts of the region if utilised properly. The Minister also appealed to people to observe austerity in using the water available for drinking purposes.

PTI