Water crisis looms large over Krishna delta
VIJAYAWADA: Is Krishna delta staring at drinking water crisis in the coming summer? Is the question worrying most people in the delta, which comprises four districts - Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and West Godavari.
Since December 24, there has been no release of water from Nagarjuna Sagar Project to the Krishna delta, though irrigation officials have sought release of water from the project to the delta at the rate of 6,000 cusecs a day.
According to irrigation officials, there are some 70,000 acres in the tail end ayacut of NSP right canal and in the tail end region of Krishna district.
'We are utilising the available water from Pulichintala at the rate of around 0.3 tmcft per day. Till date we have utilised 10 tmcft of the nearly 14 tmcft of that project,' said Irrigation Superintendent Engineer (Krishna) C Ramakrishna.
He said for the next three months, about 15 tmcft is required to meet the water requirements including drinking water of the Krishna delta. There are around 360 drinking water tanks in Krishna district and 480 in Guntur district that need to be filled before summer, so the drinking water needs are addressed.
If the water is not released from the Nagarjuna Sagar Project, the delta might be facing a severe drinking water crisis in the next summer. Officials are hoping that the stalemate over the release of water from NSP will be resolved at the earliest.
News Posted: 3 February, 2015
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