Nalgonda: Roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkata Reddy on Saturday directed officials to create awareness among farmers and discourage paddy cultivation in view of the acute shortage of water in the Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir and the low possibility of fresh inflows from upstream due to prevailing El Niño conditions.
Speaking at the district irrigation advisory board meeting at the district Collectorate in Nalgonda, he said the Nagarjuna Sagar project was at dead storage level and that even if water was released from Srisailam, there would be little scope for providing irrigation to crops. He urged farmers to opt for Irrigated Dry (ID) crops and other crops requiring less water.
Komatireddy said the water currently available in Nagarjuna Sagar was expected to meet drinking water requirements only until June 2027. Even if the reservoir reached its full reservoir level, there would be little possibility of filling tanks, while groundwater levels were also declining, he said.
He said farmers in Nalgonda had already shifted from paddy to ID crops on around 33,000 acres and set a target of increasing the area to 1.5 lakh acres. He directed officials to intensify efforts to promote water-saving crops, vegetables and horticultural crops and encourage organic farming.
Referring to the overloading of nearly 9,000 transformers in the district, Komatireddy said he would take up the issue with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and ensure that the required electrical equipment was procured.
He reiterated that the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project would be completed by August 2028 and would provide a permanent solution to Nalgonda’s irrigation problems, including during drought conditions. The combined implementation of the AMRP, SLBC and Brahmana Vellamula projects would provide irrigation to around four lakh acres in the district, he said.
The minister said the Chief Minister had directed officials to spend the required funds to complete the SLBC project. He also assured officials that steps would be taken to sanction 5,000 sprinkler units sought for the district.
MLC Kethavath Shankar Naik, district collector Badugu Chandrasekhar, Nalgonda Municipal Corporation mayor Burri Chaitanya Srinivas Reddy and irrigation department officials attended the meeting.
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