Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has sounded alarm over the looming power and water crisis in Telangana due to the El Nino conditions and directed officials to finalise an action plan to tackle the potential challenges, with particular focus on drinking water, irrigation, agriculture and electricity supply.
He cautioned that failure to anticipate the impact and take precautionary measures could lead to severe problems in the coming months.
The Chief Minister held an extensive review meeting with senior officials to assess the emerging situation and discuss measures to minimise the impact of El Nino and the rainfall deficit.
He stressed the need for coordinated action by all departments and called for public participation in implementing the proposed measures.
Revanth Reddy said the next eight months would be crucial in managing the potential crisis and called for creating awareness among people from the village to the state level about the challenges posed by El Nino.
An extensive awareness campaign would be launched after the Dasara festival through television channels, cinema halls and cultural troupes to educate people about the possible impact and the precautions they should take.
The Chief Minister cautioned that the power crisis could intensify in the coming days.
He said the government was prepared to incur the necessary expenditure to procure electricity to meet the state’s requirements, but pointed out that power availability in the market was limited.
He directed officials to ensure prudent use of available electricity and explore the temporary postponement of electricity-intensive activities wherever possible to manage demand.
On the water situation, Revanth Reddy directed officials to assess the condition of standing crops and take measures to ensure that farmers did not face a water shortage until the crops were harvested.
He stressed the need for special precautions to prevent the situation from deteriorating and called for the conservation of every drop of available water.
Officials were asked to prioritise drinking water requirements while planning the utilisation of available water resources for irrigation and other essential needs.
The Chief Minister announced that a special meeting with ministers would be convened shortly to deliberate on the impact of El Nino, the rainfall deficit and the difficulties being faced by farmers.
Key decisions would be taken after reviewing the situation in areas that had received inadequate rainfall and assessing the immediate interventions required to address the emerging challenges.
With drought-like conditions prevailing in around 215 mandals, the state government has already adopted a resolution in the Legislative Assembly urging the Centre to declare the affected areas drought-hit, provide adequate financial assistance and sanction a special package of ₹20,000 crore to help the state deal with the situation.
Revanth Reddy also directed officials to appeal to the Centre to provide an additional 50 days of employment under the employment guarantee scheme, over and above the standard 125 days, to support rural households affected by the adverse conditions.
He said the state government was ready to facilitate the additional employment days.
A decision on constituting an all-party committee, if required, would be taken after consultations with ministers.
The Chief Minister suggested establishing a dedicated ‘war room’ to continuously monitor the evolving situation and coordinating the response across departments.
He also called for setting up a toll-free helpline to enable people to seek assistance and report problems.
Senior officials from the Chief Minister’s Office were instructed to maintain constant oversight of electricity supply arrangements and ensure that emerging issues were addressed promptly.
Officials were directed to organise awareness programmes at village, mandal, district and state levels after Dasara to explain the potential consequences of El Nino and encourage people to conserve water and electricity.
The Chief Minister emphasised that advance planning, public awareness and coordinated action would be essential to minimise the impact of the anticipated crisis.
CM’s advisor K Ramakrishna Rao, MP Vem Narendar Reddy, Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju, DGP C.V. Anand and other senior officials attended the meeting.
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