Prioritise drinking water for people and livestock: Bhatti

Khammam: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka called for a collective effort to tackle the potential impact of Super El Niño, stressing that drinking water for people and livestock must be given the highest priority over the next 10 months.

Addressing a media conference at Kodumuru village in Chintakani mandal on Sunday after an extensive tour of the area along with District Collector Divakar TS and Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited (TGNPDCL) CMD Varun Reddy, he said the government was taking advance measures to address the possibility of drought-like conditions.

He said nearly 150 countries across the world were facing difficulties due to the impact of Super El Niño and warned that rising temperatures could accelerate the evaporation of available water and further deplete groundwater resources.

Of the 44,000 tanks in Telangana, around 40 per cent reportedly had less than one-fourth of their storage capacity filled, highlighting the need for careful utilisation of available water resources, he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister urged people and farmers to conserve water and electricity and cooperate with the government’s preparedness measures. He said safeguarding drinking water supplies for humans and livestock would remain the foremost priority during the coming months.

Bhatti said Telangana was ensuring uninterrupted power supply despite a sharp rise in electricity demand. “Daily electricity consumption in October had risen from 245 million units during the corresponding period last year to 335 million units this year, an increase of nearly 37 per cent,” he added.

The Deputy CM said Telangana had around 30 lakh agricultural pump sets, of which nearly 15 lakh had been affected by declining groundwater levels. He cautioned farmers against operating motors when groundwater was unavailable, saying this could lead to motor and transformer failures due to electrical overload. He also urged them to remove auto-starters fitted to agricultural pump sets and use both water and electricity judiciously.

Bhatti appealed to political parties, farmers, and the public to work together to address the potential crisis, stating that the situation demanded collective responsibility rather than political differences.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PV Satyanarayana

PV Satyanarayana[email protected]

P.V.Satyanarayana is a journalist with an experience of 20years. PV Satyanarayans has completed his post-graduation in MSc (Mathematics) from Allahabad University. Interested in writing *Feature Stories and political stories Hobbies: Reading Newspapers and listening to songs.

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