Hyderabad: Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Dansari Anasuya, also known as Seethakka, on Monday, July 6, said providing drinking water to rural areas was the government’s top priority, amid predictions of decreased rainfall due to the El Niño impact this year.
Conducting a review of the drinking water situation, the minister asked officials to closely monitor water levels in all reservoirs and ensure adequate storage for drinking water needs.
Officials were asked to release water from Akkampally Balancing Reservoir to Udayasamudram and from Tupakulagudem Barrage to Dummugudem if there are no adequate inflows by the end of July.
Officials also stated that if adequate water flow does not enter the Singur Project in the next 45 days, there is a possibility of drinking water problems arising in Sangareddy, Medak, and parts of Kamareddy and Nizamabad.
In view of this, the minister directed officials to immediately prepare a comprehensive action plan to utilise groundwater-based drinking water schemes in the affected areas.
She also suggested arranging for an alternative supply by drilling deeper borewells, flushing them to remove silt and digging new borewells in areas where groundwater is available.
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