Plea against K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Medak farm wells

Hyderabad: Seeking closure of the two wells at Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s farm, located at Erravally village in Medak, for not following the guidelines of the groundwater department, environmentalist Mekala Vishnuvardhan Reddy has filed a petition with the Medak district collector.

He alleged that the wells are a direct threat to nearby water bodies, wells and borewells of poor farmers. “Two huge wells, approximately two acres wide and 70 feet deep, have been dug on the CM’s farm.

They need to be immediately closed as they are not in accordance with the guidelines of the department of groundwater, ministry of agriculture. Apart from just closing these wells, concrete action must be taken against the officials who failed to stop these actions,” Mr Reddy said.

He addressed his petition to the Medak district collector, Prime Minister and also to the director of the central enfor-cement department. He also mentioned, “There are six water bodies including small lakes, nalas and tanks. The wells should be dug at a minimum 10 feet in order not to cause a threat to these water bodies.

But these two wells have been dug up to almost 70 feet that is pulling water from these water bodies. All the farmers in the area are completely dependent on these water bodies for their irrigation purposes. This is really unfair for the farmers, whose main livelihood is at stake,” said Vishnuvardhan Reddy.

“The district collector has not been taking any action owing to pressure as the concerned person here is the Chief Minister of Telangana. I have had experts to study the issue and only after proper legal measures I filed the petition with the collector. I will take this to the PMO if there is no action taken.” The Medak district collector was not available for a comment.