DROUGHT — ANDHRA PRADESH. Bone dry, but braving it

Though endowed with substantial water resources, Andhra Pradesh is now categorised as a drought-prone State. In particular, the arid Rayalaseema region (Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool and Chittoor districts), and Prakasam among the coastal districts, are more vulnerable than the rest.

Parts of the eight other coastal districts also experience drought or semi-drought conditions on and off, but the intensity is certainly lesser.

Post bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh is left with 13 districts, East Godavari being the largest.

Rayalaseema (named after the famous king Sri Krishnadeva Raya of Hampi-Vijayanagar in Karnataka) is categorised as a “rain-shadow region”, as it misses the immediate impact of the South-West Monsoon and is just on the periphery of the North-East Monsoon.

Among the four districts, Anantapur in particular is the most hit — it receives the least rainfall in the country (about 550 mm) after Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

There are apprehensions that the district may soon turn into a desert. Indeed, desert-like conditions already prevail in parts of the district, making it a challenge to mitigate the impact of drought there.

The Penna river, which originates in the Nandi Hills of Karnataka, flows through the district and other Rayalaseema regions to Nellore, where it joins the Bay of Bengal. The major reservoirs on the river, Somasila and Kandaleru, are located in Nellore district, and the river waters are largely of use to its residents.

Penna is of little use to Anantapur. Its tributaries are too small to make any impact. The available water resources are very limited and cater to just 10 per cent of agriculture in the district.

The balance 90 per cent is rain-dependent. There is heavy dependence on groundwater and bore wells to meet drinking water and irrigation needs.

In Anantapur as in other Rayalaseems districts, groundnut is the main crop, but it is becoming increasingly difficult of late to cultivate it. The State government deployed “rain guns” in 2016 to save the standing groundnut crop in these regions, as there was a severe water crisis.

Typically, there is large-scale migration of people in the summer months from Anantapur to the neighbouring Karnataka and other parts of Andhra Pradesh.

Though not as grim as in Anantapur, the situation in the other Rayalaseema districts is not much better.

There are water conservationists, such as Ayyappa Masagi from Karnataka, who contend that it is possible, even in a water-starved zone like Anantapur, to adopt rain-harvesting methods and improve the position remarkably.

Masagi purchased 85 acres of land through his water conservation foundation in a village near the Chitravati river in the district and turned it into a green zone. He says his methods can well be replicated.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu believes that by linking the major rivers in the State — the Krishna, the Godavari and the Penna — drought can be banished, not only from the coastal districts but also from Rayalaseema.

There is enough water in the Godavari basin to be transferred to the Krishna basin as well as Penna basin to meet the requirements of Rayalaseema, he feels.

The mega Polavaram project on the Godavari, under construction in West Godavari district, is likely to have a total cost of ₹30,000 crore or more. It has been declared a national project in the AP Bifurcation Act, 2014, and is slated for completion by 2019.

The irrigation project will certainly be a boon to the two Godavari districts apart from the districts of Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Guntur and even Prakasam. Not only will it help the regions meet their irrigation and domestic needs but also provide water for industries.

It will stabilise the Godavari and Krishna deltas, link the the two river basins and also generate 700 MW of power. The two rivers are already linked through the Pattisemma lift irrigation scheme and Polavaram canal.

Naidu has also mooted a grand scheme to link the Godavari and the Penna, by lifting Godavari waters from Polavaram and carrying them to the Somasila reservoir on the Penna in Nellore district. WAPCOS Ltd, a Central agency, has been mandated to prepare a report. It has come up with four options to link the two river basins, at a cost of more than ₹1 lakh crore. Naidu’s critics as well as some experts have expressed doubts over the proposed Godavari-Penna link. Their concerns are mostly on costs and other difficulties such as land acquisition on a large scale.

The proposed Veligonda project will carry water to Prakasam district from the Srisailam reservoir on the Krishna through a tunnel dug through the hills.

The impounded water will be used to meet the irrigation and domestic needs of the water-starved district. The first phase of the project may be completed by 2019.

The AP government has also drawn up plans to build 20,000 more check dams, adopt water conservation methods, and take up drought control measures on a large scale.

Naidu proclaims often that it is his topmost priority to make the State drought-proof.

“I shall banish drought from the State” is the common refrain of his speeches.

He intends to achieve this by harnessing the Godavari waters to the maximum extent and linking rivers. How he will mobilise the resources — considering the State is already dependent on Central aid to meet its expenses post bifurcation — remains the billion-dollar question.