Excess rainfall too fails to quench thirst of Bhongir villages

The scarcity persisted until the last week of August, with heavy downpours on August 30 and 31 triggering floods in nearby areas, yet leaving Wadaparthy tanks empty.

Hyderabad: Farmers in various villages of Yadadri Bhongir district are grappling with severe water scarcity, leading to withering crops and near-drought conditions. Despite the district receiving 13 percent excess rainfall this season, villages such as Wadaparthy in Bhongir mandal are experiencing significant hardships.

In Wadaparthy, the lone village tank is nearly dry, unable to support irrigation or community needs. Similar conditions prevail in Mannevaripampu, Mariyal, Medipally, and Hanmapur, where groundwater depletion has caused severe distress among residents. The scarcity persisted until the last week of August, with heavy downpours on August 30 and 31 triggering floods in nearby areas, yet leaving Wadaparthy tanks empty.

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The irrigation needs of Wadaparthy farmers were temporarily met by releasing water from Kondapochamma Sagar until the first week of September. However, water releases were halted due to breaches in the canal system within the mandal. Kondapochamma Sagar, with a gross storage capacity of 15 TMC, has been a crucial support for the area.

Yet, limited inflows into the project last year exacerbated the situation.Many villages, including Wadaparthy, are now awaiting the completion of the Baswapur reservoir, expected to hold 11.39 TMC of water to irrigate 165 lakh acres in the erstwhile Nalgonda district. D. Narasimha, CPM mandal secretary, expressed hope that the village would find relief only with the supply of Godavari water from the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. He emphasized that the groundwater table would improve with regular supplies from Kondapochamma Sagar.

Farmers from Wadaparthy have presented a memorandum to the Mandal Revenue Officer, requesting assured water supplies to fill village tanks like Gollagudem and Pallepahad in Turkapalli mandal. They believe that once these tanks are filled, Wadaparthy tanks will also brim without needing a canal link.The situation remains dire, and farmers are anxiously awaiting government intervention to ensure water supply and alleviate their hardships.