Batrepalli waterfalls an oasis in drought-hit Anantapur

ANANTAPUR: Despite there being a deficit rainfall, Batrepalli waterfalls — the only falls in the drought-hit district of Anantapur — have become a tourist attraction. The falls are located in the midst of several large hills, in a reserved forest.

The Batrepalli waterfalls are located in Talupula mandal, near Kadiri, of Anantapuram district. They are active from September to December. Water begins to flow from the Mallalamma temple in the Nilgiri forest and goes on to join the Batrepalli pond.

The falls are located close to Kadapa district as well as Karnataka. During the holiday season, they turn into a busy picnic spot. 

K. Rajasekhar, a former municipal councillor from Kadiri, says, “We feel that the Batrepalli waterfalls provide a suitable picnic spot for four months a year, during the rainy season, in an otherwise dry area.” He said devotees who visit the Lord Lakshmi Narasimhaswamy temple of Kadiri often make a stop at the falls, which provides an open, green landscape.

The falls are located in Anantapur district, parts of which resemble a desert. Over the past three decades, the formation of sand dunes in Kanekal mandal, close to the Hagari riverbed, is not uncommon. Meanwhile, water is found to be available in stagnant pools and puddles all year round.

A team of professors from Sri Krishnadevaraya University, SV University and SSBN College have carried out a study on the lone waterfall of the district. 

In December 2014, they collected samples from various spots using a planktonic mesh net with a pore size of 40 µm in open waters. Epiphytic lifeforms, along with stray leaves and encrustations from wet boulders, were collected by the brushing technique. All samples were fixed with four percent formalin and diatoms were removed using the hot H2O2 method.