No water in Godavari for irrigation

By HNN Bureau

Farmers in the district, especially those who wanted to take up paddy, have been desperately looking skywards for rains.The district is now almost witnessing drought like conditions. Normally paddy transplantation for Kharif has to be completed by this time but, the deficit and scanty rainfall in a majority of mandals has become a cause of concern for the farming community.

The Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) which is the main irrigation source for the entire Karimnagar district as well as other north Telangana districts is yet to receive water. It has only 14.57 tmc water against its actual capacity of 90 tmc as there are no rains in catchments areas of the Godavari in Maharastra.

The district has so far recorded 43.6 percent deficit rainfall. Going by the statistics, up to June 7, it received 143.9 mm against the normal 151.2 mm in 10 rainy days.From June 7 to July 7, 99.3 mm rainfall was recorded against normal 283.8 mm and up to August 20, only 88 mm rainfall recorded against the normal of 144.5 mm. So far the district has recorded 331.2 mm rainfall against normal of 579.5 mm out of 32 rainy days.

Last year by this time it was 527.8 mm.Out of total 57 mandals, seven mandals – Velgatur, Ramagundam, Kataram, Maha Mutharam, Mustabad, Ellanthakunta and Darmaram, have recorded scanty rainfall and 46 mandals have received deficit rainfall.Only four mandals – Ellanthankunta, Yellareddypet, Boinpally and Odela, have received normal rainfall.Due to non-availability of the water in the SRSP, paddy transplantation under the project ayacut is yet to take off.

In the entire district paddy transplantation has taken place in only 75,950 hectares, that are irrigated by wells, this is 59.8 percent of the normal area of 1,27,081 hectares.The area proposed to be brought under paddy in Kharif is 1,98,000 hectares. Overaged paddy nurseries under the SRSP ayacut have become a cause of concern.Speaking to this website's newspaper District Collector M V Satyanaranayana said that cloud seeding was being taken up in some mandals of the district by the Rainshadow Areas Development Department.

According to official information cloud seeding was done on July 22, 27, 30 and August 21 in about 10 mandals of the district but only Huzurabad, Chendurthi and Kathalapur have reportedly received rains due to cloud seeding, and the remaining mandals have not received any rainfall.However, the district Agriculture Department officials are trying to encourage farmers to take up alternate crops.