Andhra Pradesh's groundwater reserves shrink after long dry spell

Candidates of various political parties in Andhra Pradesh did a slew of things apart from their usual campaigning to woo voters during this parliamentary election.
 
Supply of drinking water in colonies and villages through special tankers was one of them.
 
Drinking water has emerged as the single biggest problem across many parts of the state.
 
The problem is not just in Rayalaseema but even in Krishna and Godavari delta regions.
 
Pre-monsoon rain has been scanty. Instead of the normal seasonal rain of 89.1 mm across the state, Andhra Pradesh has recorded only 51.7 mm – which is a deficit of 42 per cent.

 
The districts of Guntur and West Godavari have seen the driest three months in the March-May period.
 
Known for its canal irrigation system under several medium and large projects built on the two perennial rivers, Andhra Pradesh this year stares at a severe shortage with surface water and ground water plummeting due to the prevailing drought conditions.
 
Horticulture crops spread across thousands of acres, including mango, lime, sweet lime, banana and papaya in the upland areas face a threat as bore wells have dried up across several areas in Prakasham, Nellore, Anantapur, Kadapa, Chitoor and Guntur
 

In fact, even farmers are finding it difficult to keep their cattle alive till the rains arrive.
 
Senior CPI leader Ravula Venkaiah, who just returned from a visit to Diviseema, told Business Standard, “A group of farmers at Deendayal Puram in Diviseema dug up a deep pit in the middle of a tank bed to extract water for their animals, numbering around 50. They lifted whatever little water they could into containers and poured it into a nearby pit for the animals. One of the farmers told me that he was not sure if he could ensure survival of these animals for long using this only and dwindling source.”
 
Diviseema is a island comprising four mandals (local revenue administrative units) in Krishna district overseeing the confluence of the Krishna with the Bay of Bengal on the left and right sides.
 
“A tractor load of paddy straw is being sold at Rs 15,000-Rs 25,000 right now. Usually, it sells around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5000,” says P Ramachandraiah of AP Farmers Association.
 
Water is being supplied by tankers from outside to 10 of the 20 gram panchayats in upland areas in Jalugumilli mandal of Prakasham district. According to official data, the government is providing drinking water to 4,800 villages through tankers.
 
Successive droughts over 4-5 years has resulted in the summer-period flow into the Krishna falling below levels to even meet the drinking water needs of the people.
 
At the government’s request, Nagarjuna Sagar authorities recently released water to the right bank canal for drinking water needs in Prakasham where the water is stored in the Ramathirtham reservoir to be distributed to neighbouring habitations.
 
At the state-level last year, the South West monsoon rainfall (between June 1 and September 30, 2018) was 17.9 per cent below long-term normal. The shortfall was worse in particular areas. In the south-coastal and Rayalaseema regions, the deficit was recorded at 25.6 and 40.7 per cent below normal. The situation worsened when the North East monsoon completely failed to provide any relief to the state, particularly Rayalseema, which registered a 58 per cent deficit in rainfall (between October and December 2018).
 
This continuous parched phase continued into the summer, leading to groundwater levels falling to crisis levels. As on May 18, 2019, at the state level, the ground water table was down by 2.92 metres below ground level (mbgl). Last year, at the same time, it was at 13.30 mbgl. This year, it stood at 16.18 mbgl.
 
In the districts, ground water table has fallen even lower – by 10.94 mbgl in Chittoor, by 8.25 mbgl in Kadapa, by 4.58 mbgl in Anantapur and 3.95 mbgl in Kurnool.
 
Of the 670 mandals in the state, the government declared drought in 238 mandals in 2014, 359 mandals in 2015, 301 mandals in 2016 and 328 mandals for Kharif 2018.
 
For the first time in Andhra’s history, 257 mandals were declared as drought areas during the Rabi season of 2018-19 as well.
 
Almost 70 per cent of these drought-hit mandals fall in the 6-7 districts of Rayalaseema and South Coastal region.
 
The effect of depleted water levels have been shown in the crop sowing data. According to official data, crop was sowed in over 35.47 lakh hectares, or 90 per cent of the total normal area of 39.53 lakh hectares in Kharif 2018. This was 21.66 lakh hectares, or 92 per cent of the normal crop area of 23.44 lakh hectares in the Rabi season.
 
The concluding part of this series looks at the drought situation in Karnataka