Six districts of the state Andhra Pradesh including Prakasam and Rayalaseema are dependent on the Srisailam project, as they require at least 600 TMC water to meet their drinking water needs to alleviate the backwardness of the region, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister told on Tuesday.
In the apex council meeting, with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and his Telangana counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao aimed at resolving the Telugu state’s water disputes. Reddy told that: “Rayalaseema and Prakasam districts continue to reel under drought for not having even 50 TMC of water per district. It is generally agreed that a minimum of 100 TMC of water is required for each district to sustain itself.”
He added to the statement: “It is a fact that critical and chronically drought-prone areas of Rayalaseema, Kurnool, YSR Kadapa, Anantapuram, Chittoor, including SPSR Nellore and Prakasam districts are mainly dependent on Srisailam project for their drinking, industrial and irrigation needs.”
These six districts are among the most backward places in Andhra Pradesh also they receive very low rainfall with erratic distribution in time and space. There are also no reliable water sources for irrigation and to provide drinking water, according to Reddy.
He told: “It is not out of context to mention that Ananthapuram receives the second lowest rainfall in the country after Thar desert and falls under Desert Development Programme (DDP),” Reddy noted, showing their backwardness and need of water for growth and development, the areas are Kurnool, Chittoor, YSR Kadapa and Prakasam districts that fall under the drought-prone area program (DPAP).
The Chief Minister told that the people from these six districts are migrating to places far away in search of livelihood, impacting the region’s socio-economic growth, this all because of the underdevelopment and parched conditions.
He added to his statement that “I, respectfully, would like to submit that the Minister of Jal Shakti and CM, Telangana would appreciate that it is the moral responsibility of the elected governments, to ensure that the minimum basic needs of the people are fulfilled in the backward areas to instill confidence in the overall growth of those regions.”
Despite the fact that Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy districts in Telangana are going through a similar case, the accessibility of irrigation facility over 30% of the area with 142 TMC and 104 TMC in both the districts, alongside industrialization in Rangareddy have put them out of the DPAP, he noted.
Reddy said these three regions are better positioned from an overall growth perspective while Rayalaseema and Prakasam continue to suffer from drought without even 50 TMC water for every district.
Appealing to Shekhawat he added: “Further, the sharing mechanism in all the reservoirs in a basin may be considered on a proportionate sharing basis on a fortnightly basis so that all extreme conditions will be shared by all the stakeholders in the basin together.”
