Vijayawada: To improve the drinking water supply during summer, government Chief Secretary Dr. K.S. Jawahar Reddy on Monday said that the water would be released from Prakasam Barrage through canals till April 29 and from Nagarjuna Sagar Right Main Canal till April 25. This, he said, would help to fill various storage tanks during the summer.
Dr Jawahar Reddy stated that the water release for the canals being extended to fill all the drinking water tanks and summer storage tanks to overcome the potable drinking water scarcity in the state.
The CS convened a review meeting with officials concerned to discuss about the drinking water supply and implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme (MGNREGS) at his chamber in the Secretariat at Velagapudi on Monday.
So far, out of the 1,046 tanks, 680 summer storage tanks were filled with canal water, he stated. He instructed the officials to take necessary steps to fill the remaining tanks in Krishna, Guntur, NTR, Bapatla, and Eluru districts through the Bandar, Ryves and Eluru canals before April 29 and Guntur, Palnadu, Prakasam and Bapatla districts through the Nagarjuna Sagar by April 25.
The CS said that officials should take precautionary steps to avoid drinking water scarcity in urban areas.
Meanwhile, he directed the Municipal Department officials that no urban area should face any potable drinking water problem in the summer. And told the officials concerned to monitor the groundwater levels and directed them to submit a detailed report to district collectors.
Jawahar Reddy enquired about the Upadhi scheme and work. Meanwhile, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development principal secretary Sashibhushan Kumar explained that his department employed 22.59 lakh people so far in the state. The number would be increased in the coming days, he added.
