Vijayawada: Rayalaseema has registered 2.4 per cent less rainfall in the period starting from June 1 as compared to the normal. The usual rainfall in the region for this time of the year is 94.3 mm. The rest of the state has recorded 11.8 mm more rainfall, according to data recorded by the state government since the beginning of the monsoon this year. From June 1 to July 8, the coastal Andhra registered 165 mm rainfall against the normal of 139.9 mm.
According to an estimate, the state has received 802 TMC ft of rainwater so far in this season. With this and other recharges, an estimated 112 TMC ft of rainwater has reached the groundwater table. According to official data, the average groundwater level has increased by 0.92 metres from May till July 8. That indicates that around 83 TMC ft of water reached the groundwater table.
The state has around 15 lakh borewells, according irrigation minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao. The groundwater levels in 268 out of 670 mandals was below 15 metres. Of these, 161 are in Rayala-seema — 56 mandals in Anantapur, 46 in Chittoor, 35 in Kadapa and 24 in Kurnool districts, he said. In coastal Andhra, 107 mandals — Prakasam 34, West Godavari 19, East Godavari 12, Nellore 14, Krishna 11, Guntur 10, Visakhapatnam 4, Srikakulam 2 and Vizia-nagaram 1, had groundwater below 15 metres.
The groundwater department has identified that five districts have received more rain than the corresponding period last year. These are: Visa-khapatnam (243.6 mm, 49.3 per cent), East Godavari (237.1 mm, 40.1 per cent), West Godavari (208.3 mm, 27 per cent), Krishna (181.3 mm, 25.3 per cent) and Guntur districts (161.1 mm, 34.5 per cent).
Six districts have received normal rainfall: Vizianagaram (140 mm, 15.8 per cent), Prakasam (92 mm, 18.3 per cent), Nellore (90.08 mm, 12.8 per cent), Chittoor (96.9 mm, 9.7 per cent), Kadapa (91.6 mm, 0.4 per cent), and Kurnool districts (118.3 mm, 17.1 per cent).
The remaining two districts — Srikakulam (130.8 mm, minus-24.7 per cent) and Anantapur (61 mm, minus-21.6 per cent) have received less rainfall as compared to the same June 1-July 8 period last year, according to the Mr Rao. He said automatic digital water level recorders have been set in around 1,254 peizometers, in order to get the status of water levels in different reservoirs and analyse the rainfall pattern.
