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With summer far away, water crisis hits Warangal
With Summer far Away, Water Crisis Hits Warangal. Even as a cold wave is sweeping across Telangana, Warangal is heading for a severe water crisis. One could imagine the intensity of the water scarcity once summer sets in.
Warangal: Even as a cold wave is sweeping across Telangana, Warangal is heading for a severe water crisis. One could imagine the intensity of the water scarcity once summer sets in. With poor rainfall and over exploitation of groundwater, the water table has dropped to a record 10-year low.
The groundwater level in Warangal has fallen from 5.66 metres in December 2013 to 9.60 metres by the same month in 2014. The depth of the table has fallen by 3.94 metres, according to the statistics available with the groundwater department.
Normally, the groundwater levels witness a huge dip during the March and April months. However, the situation in the district was worse than ever it experienced in the last decade. Since December 2004-05, the depth of groundwater level has never dropped to 10.89 metres.
If the meager rainfall registered in the district was a key factor behind the drop in groundwater levels, the other factor that compounded the problem was excessive use of groundwater. Most of the irrigated agricultural requirements are met by the tapping groundwater.
The district registered only 623.5 mm rainfall as against the average rainfall of 919.5 mm as on January 5, 2015. It is to be noted here that the behaviour of groundwater table is governed by the quantity, intensity and frequency of rainfall.
Deveruppula and Palakurthi mandals in the Janagaon division are the worst among the mandals that received deficit rainfall. The other mandals which received deficit rainfall are Zaffergadh, Dharmasagar in Warangal division, Dornakal and Doggondi in Mahbubabad division, and Mulugu and Regonda in Narsampet division.
The shallowest water level is recorded in the peizometer of Sangem mandal with 3.06 metres below ground level (MBGL) and deepest in the piezometer of Raghunathpalli mandal with 25.28 MGBL. Rainfall is the principal source for groundwater recharge in the district.
Sounding an alarm, Deputy Director of Groundwater Department V Ananda Kumar informed The Hans India, “The situation is grave.” Emphasizing the need for a scientific study at micro-level to arrest the depleting groundwater levels, he pointed out that as many as 194 villages have been identified as ‘dark’ villages where all borewells have become defunct due to depletion of water table.
The point in question was whether the measures such as restoration of defunct borewells, repairing of pump sets or providing new ones and flushing of borewells proposed by the Rural Water Supply (RWS) and other government agencies quench the thirst of the people as summer approaching.
“We have chalked out an action plan with an outlay of Rs 6 crore to deal with the water crisis in the summer,” said RWS Executive Engineer V Srinivasa Rao. A comprehensive mandal-wise report would be finalized in the first week of February, he said.
Though the government spends crores of rupees on drinking water schemes, yet the problem remains unresolved. A better coordination among government agencies and long-term plans are the need of the hour.
By A Mahender
