Kurnool: Minister for Industries, Commerce, and Food Processing TG Bharath has directed officials to take necessary measures to prevent drinking water shortage during the summer.

On Sunday, a general body meeting of the Zilla Parishad was held at the Zilla Parishad Meeting Hall under the chairmanship of ZP Chairman Errabotula Papireddy. The meeting focused on rural water supply, sanitation, agriculture and irrigation issues.

During the discussion on drinking water supply, Minister Bharath questioned the Rural Water Supply Department SE about the condition of overhead water storage tanks.

“These tanks were built long ago, and there are reports of leakages. Have they been inspected?” he asked. The Minister noted that there are over 60 such tanks across the erstwhile Kurnool district and directed officials to assess their condition immediately. He emphasised that failure to inspect them could lead to severe issues. He instructed officials to evaluate their capacity as per regulations and submit a report. ZP Chairman Errabotula Papireddy urged officials to resolve the issues raised regarding rural drinking water supply, agriculture and irrigation. He suggested using gram panchayat funds for addressing water shortages, and if those were insufficient, Mandal Parishad funds should be utilised. If the problem persisted, he assured that the Zilla Parishad would provide additional funds.

Any major issues should be brought to the notice of the Minister or District Collector for government intervention. He also instructed officials to repair and restore hand pumps to improve water access in villages.

During the discussion on agriculture, the ZP Chairman highlighted the shortage of fertilisers in the rabi season and instructed officials to take necessary steps to prevent similar shortages in the upcoming kharif season. On irrigation, he stressed the need for constructing reservoirs in the region to effectively utilise Krishna river water.

Kurnool District Collector P Ranjith Basha stated that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had taken the issue of providing a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for chilli farmers to the Central government and necessary steps were being taken at the State level. The Collector enquired about proposals for the repair or replacement of gates at Tungabhadra Dam. He directed the Irrigation SE to obtain details from the Tungabhadra Dam Board regarding budget allocations for the project. Furthermore, he said that Tungabhadra Board officials should attend future ZP meetings to provide updates on dam-related matters.

He also mentioned that over 90% of local reservoirs had been filled through the Handri-Neeva project by March, with only 4-5 remaining, which would be filled soon. The Collector assured that special attention would be given to reservoir maintenance this year.

The meeting covered several key aspects related to water supply, agriculture, irrigation and welfare programmes, with officials receiving clear directives to take prompt action.

The meeting was attended by the District Collectors of Kurnool and Nandyal P Ranjith Basha and Rajakumari, Kurnool MP Bastipati Nagaraju, Joint Collector Dr B Navya and others.