Chittoor dist climbs to 26th spot

Tirupati: The drought prone Chittoor district which was lagging far behind in water conservation measures including rainwater harvesting at the start of Jal Shakti Abhiyan (JSA) three months back now climbed the ladder to occupy 26th place against 223rd place in the beginning of the Abhiyan.

The district saw about 5,800 water harvesting structures including 4,401 farm ponds, 319 staggered trenches and 63 minor irrigation tanks completed so far after the launch of JSA in July propelling the district forward in the implementation of water conservation initiatives.

JSA District Special Officer Iyangar at an official meeting held here on Friday to review the progress of the works under JSA acknowledged the district's impressive performance and patted District Collector Dr Bharath Narayan Gupta for achieving 26th place at national level.

He wanted the district to take up rainwater harvesting in a big way to see that the district is get rid of the water problem even in the 4,000 habitations where water is being supplied through tankers by focusing on taking up rainwater harvesting structure like farm ponds, soak pits, recharging of borewells and also desilting tanks to enhance their water storage capacity.

Simultaneously, he said stress should be laid on the farmers shift from water intensive crops like sugarcane and paddy to horticulture crops to minimise water consumption and also get more income. Installation of micro irrigation methods like drip and sprinklers systems should be promoted in a big way to ensure the farmer optimum utilisation of available water for agriculture.

Besides, water conservation and rain harvesting, the tree plantation should also be taken up as part of JSA, he said seeking the district to organise massive plantation of 5 lakh trees in single day involving NGOs, students, youths and government departments to enhance greenery.

This apart, the officials in the two corporations and two municipalities in the district should strictly follow the norm of approving building plan only to those who take up soak pits for rain harvesting. Efforts should be made to save every drop of rainwater, he exhorted.

The Collector mentioned that efforts are on to take up more community farm ponds with more storage capacity for impounding more rainwater and rain harvesting structures under the NREGS.

As part of Swachhata Hi Seva along with anti-plastic campaign, tree plantation will also be taken up to enhance greenery, he said. JSA central committee members and district officials of various departments involved in JSP were present.

Earlier, the two officials participated in a mass tree plantation programme in Adapareddypalli in Durgasamudram panchayat for plantation of 1,600 avenue trees for 3 km stretch.