Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy and his wife N Padmavathi, who is an MLA, on Monday, August 10, took part in a ‘Varuna Yagam’ in Nalgonda district, being conducted by the state government seeking bountiful rains during the current monsoon season.
The yagam (ritual worship of Lord Varuna) is held at Nagarjuna Sagar on the banks of Krishna river.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will attend the ‘purnahuti’ (concluding ceremony) of the yagam in the evening.
As many as 108 ‘Ritwiks’ (priests) are performing the yagam for which 11 ‘Homa Kundams’ (sacrificial fire pits) have been set up.
The ritual is being performed by the priests and Vedic scholars of the famous Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadagirigutta seeking abundant rains and that the reservoirs in Krishna and Godavari river basins are filled.
A release from the Irrigation Minister’s office on Sunday said, halfway through the southwest monsoon and already into the second week of August, Telangana’s two major rivers — Krishna and the Godavari — are still waiting for inflows that will ensure adequate water availablility in the reservoirs and irrigation systems.
Nagarjuna Sagar currently has only 145.65 TMC against its gross storage capacity of 312.045 TMC. Its water level was around 518 feet, compared with a Full Reservoir Level of 590 feet.
On August 9 last year, Nagarjuna Sagar had approximately 310.25 TMC, with the reservoir level at around 589.40 feet — virtually at Full Reservoir Level. On the corresponding day this year, it has less than half that storage, it said.
An expert committee appointed by the Telangana government on the impact El Nino on July 30 suggested providing subsidy on drip and sprinkler irrigation systems and promoting drought-tolerant crops during the current Kharif season, among others, to minimise adverse impact of El Nino and deficit rainfall.
Responding to the government’s decision to perform the yagam, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao has said there is nothing wrong in conducting it, but the government should take concrete steps to provide relief to the farmers.
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