Telangana government prepares contingency plans to battle deficient rainfall
Telangana government has adopted an approach guided by caution in management of the irrigation projects
Hyderabad: The Kharif (Vanakalam) operations in the State are yet to take off in full scale as the rainfall recorded for June was largely deficient. With the inflows into irrigation projects still being dismal, the sowings under the irrigation sources are also not as desired so far. The live storage in a majority of the major and medium irrigation projects as on today is less compared to last year due to the deficient rainfall.
The State government is, however, ready with contingency plans to outwit the challenges posed by the adverse seasonal conditions. It has adopted an approach guided by caution in management of the irrigation projects. Irrigation authorities are gearing up with project-wise plans to meet the farm needs by all means from the second week of July.
The irrigation schedules under all major projects are likely to be finalized within a fortnight after a fresh review of the status of the inflows. The Kharif projections made by the Agriculture Department are quite optimistic for the year. It has planned for cultivation of Kharif crops in over 1.4 crore acres and ensured seed availability accordingly.
The department favoured advancing the Kharif schedule by a few weeks so as to ensure that it would not have a cascading effect on the Yasangi season. Untimely rains in the month of April have been causing extensive damage on the Yasangi crops. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has mooted the idea of going in for early sowing to avoid the rain ravage.
The cumulative rainfall received by the State from June 1 to 28 is only 66.9 mm against the normal of 119.6 mm. With a deviation of -44 percent, early sowing for the Kharif could be a tough task this year. Only six districts – Sangareddy, Vikarabad, Narayanpet, Nagarkurnool, Rangareddy and Nalgonda have received normal rainfall so far.
As many as 18 districts – Adilabad, Kumram Bheem, Mancherial, Nirmal, Nizamabad, Mahabubabad, Kamareddy, Medak, Siddipet, Jangaon, Yadadri Bhongir, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Hyderabad, Mahabubnagar, Jogulamba Gadwal, Wanaparthy, Suryapet and Bhadradri Kothagudem received deficient rainfall. The shortfall is ranging from -20 per cent to -59 percent.
But the situation is grim in nine districts – Jagtial, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Warangal, Hanamkonda, Karimnagar, Rajanna Sircilla and Khammam where the deficit is large, ranging from -60 to -99 per cent. However, the situation has improved considerably compared to last week. The monsoon was expected to be vigorous in the next two weeks.
The Kharif sowings, mainly in the rain-fed area, the extent of which is over 15 lakh acres, are expected to improve fast. The overall sowing crossed 16 lakh acre mark, said official sources.
The delayed monsoon will not make much impact in the command of the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal, which is divided into three zones. Over 6.5 lakh acres, to be covered mostly with paddy crop will be supported by the project in the districts of Nalgonda, Suryapet and Khammam.
Water would be released from the project as usual towards the end of July as it was the case for the last 23 years. The project has a reserve of about 18 TMC which could be drawn any time to support the Kharif crops in its command.
As Irrigation officials put it, Telangana State has full entitlement on the available reserve above the minimum draw down level of the project. AP had already released water for the Kharif crops in Krishna Delta in the basin. Telangana has however been showing restraint in view of the drinking water needs to be met on priority in case of any dry spell resulting in scarcity conditions.
So far as the Srisailam project is concerned, the situation is not encouraging. No drawls could be made from the project without adequate inflows. The project has a live storage of 33.59 tmc as as against 43.82tmc same day last year.
Water component of the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Scheme getting ready needs to lift over 7 tmc of water to quench the thirst of over 1200 villages in the Palamuru region. The Kalwakurthy Project is also depending on the drawals from the project.
Jurala Project, that caters solely Telangana needs in Krishna basin has a storage of 7.59 tmc as against 7.91 TMC on June 29, last year. No inflows could be expected immediately as the storage levels are alarming in the upstream projects in Karnataka such as Almatti and Narayanpur. Almatti has a live storage of 20.11 tmc as against 49.52 tmc same day last year.
So far as the Godavari basin project are concerned the situation is relatively better. The Mid Manair project has a storage of 18.43 tmc as against 7.43 tmc by June year last year. The Sripada Yellampalli had 11.99 tmc as against 8.49 tmc last year. The storage in Sriramsagar (17.22 TMC), Nizam Sagar (20.07 tmc), Lower Manair (7.33) and Kaddam project 2.92 TMC may help plan better for the season.
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project Engineer-in-Chief N Venkateswarlu exuded confidence that the crops in the command area could be supported adequately during Kharif. Good inflows are expected from Godavari in a week. The irrigation schedule could be finalized after a fresh review of State projects due in the first week of July, he added.
