AP to take Isro help to mitigate water crisis

Vijayawada: The state government is planning to take up rain harvesting measures in a big way with the cooperation of Isro and will prepare an action plan to construct 20,000 check dams from April 15 to July 15 to meet the drinking water needs and to provide irrigation in drought-prone areas.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to launch the programme in Rayalaseema region.

A team of 10 officials, including scientists and geologists, worked for the past six months and identified areas for the construction of check dams to increase groundwater level.

Speaking about it, minister for water resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, on Monday, said besides construction of check dams in all the existing villages, tanks would be repaired. He said several lift irrigation schemes were also revived to meet drinking water needs during the summer season.

The minister said the state government had launched an app for the benefit of farmers to know weather conditions for the coming week and groundwater position in their fields.

He said the app, AP Varuna, would help to furnish the details of temperature, humidity and groundwater levels of any region in the state.

AP Space Applications Centre scientist K.V. Ramana said an expert team, working on the water harvesting project, conducted studies in all the regions for the past six months and identified the areas where check dams should be constructed.

He said several factors were taken into consideration to identify the place, including rocky areas as these are not suitable for water harvesting.

He said farmers should be giving priority to farm ponds to protect their crops during drought conditions.

He said small farmers would benefit in a big way with the construction of check dams and water harvesting measures. He said the programme would help soil conservation also.