Luck to drip into district

Anantapur: The prospect of another drought year for farmers of Anantapur is looming large after the failure of the main groundnut crop this year. Untimely rainfall has adversely affected the groundnut crop in many parts of the district. Chief Minister Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu had announced that Anantapur would be ‘drought free’ in the next  five years, which had  kindled hopes of farmers.

The district has the largest geographical area (19.13lakh hectare) among all the districts of Andhra Pradesh and receives the lowest quantum of rainfall among all, and second lowest in the country after Jaisalmer in Rajasthan. Normal rainfall of the district is 553 mm.The normal rainfall in the South West monsoon period is 338 mm which forms about 61.2 per cent of the total rainfall for the year.

The failure of the rains in the  South West monsoon period from June to September often results in drought in the region  and thereby failure of crops. The rainfall for North East monsoon period is 156.0 mm only, which forms 28.3 percent of annual rainfall. The months of March, April and May are warm and dry.

“Due to continuous droughts the groundwater levels have reduced  precariously and the areas under bore wells /wells have shown a de-clining trend. More than 120 villages  are  facing drinking water scarcity and being supplied water  through tankers from nearby villages in the district,”  said Rural water supply superintendent engineer, Mr Prabhakar Rao.

Vice-chairman  of ADCC bank, Anantapur, Mr K. Anandaranga Reddy observed diversion of perennial water sources is the only  solution. “We need clear allocation to each part of the district on priority basis through diverting Krishna waters,” he opined. Agriculture sector plays an important role in the economy of the district. Almost 70  percent of the district's population depends on agriculture for their livelihood.

The share of agriculture and allied sectors in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the district ranges from 24 to 37 percent. Joint collector S. Satyanarayana hoped that with total  drip irrigation system, a  part of drought proofing measures,  and  completion of Handri Neeva project  groundwater sources  would increase in many parts of the district  next year.