Dry tanks add to heat in Telangana

Forest animals are struggling to quench their thirst as streams and rivulets have dried up and water has evaporated from all the water bodies due to soaring temperatures in the Adilabad district of Telangana.

The forest staff has failed to create additional drinking water sources for them. Forest animals especially herbivores are straying into villages in search of water and fall prey to poachers even in Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) during the summer.

Some of the solar pump sets set up in the identified places to provide drinking water to the forest animals were defunct as water motors are not functioning and unidentified persons had stolen the water pipelines in the core area of the Kawal Tiger Reserve.

A field level worker said, the saucer wells meant for the forest animals received water for a brief spell but the water has evaporated within no time due to high temperatures. 

However, there was some greenery in the forest due to unexpected rains that struck the district recently and this is helpful for the herbivores.

Forest officials have to fill the saucer wells with water to quench the thirst of the forest animals on a regular basis but there has been no activity there..

Forest animals have no opportunity to cool their body with the water in the summer due to dry streams and rivulets in the forests. The deep trenches with fencing separating the reserve forest and villages at some points to restrict the entry of the vehicles and people into forests and wood smuggling has proved costly  to the forest animals as they cannot cross the trenches for water.

                                                                                                         ( May 28, 2015)

Farmer suicides: Telangana to promote check dams

State government will promote check dams to increase the ground water table, and help in preventing farmer distress in the Telangana.

The check dams will be constructed on rivulets and streams along with the bridges to improve the ground water table to save standing crops during drought in order to prevent farmer suicides in the Telangana state.

Panchayatraj and Roads and buildings departments have to inform the irrigation department while they were constructing bridges on rivulets and stream and even small rivers so that irrigation department construct check dams at such places.

State government has issued instruction to the Panchayatraj and R&B departments to prepare designs of the bridges on streams and rivulets consulting irrigation officials. 

Reports revealed that some farmers had fallen into debt after digging many borewells but failed to get water for agriculture due drastic fall in the ground water at many places.

The state government is of the opinion that farmers were resorting to suicides due to crop failure and subsequent debts due to crop failures during drought and following the borewells dried up following the drastic fall in ground water table.

Borewells they dug goes dry within no time and this was resulted in low yields even after investing huge amounts in digging borewells.

State government found that water from rivulets and streams flowing downstream without any use and enters into sea at last. At many places, there were no check dams on rivulets and streams especially hilly areas and water flows to down stream.

It is also found that overflowing water from tanks goes downstream without any check and go waste but things become worst during summer when there were no rains or scanty rainfall.      

Minister for irrigation T. Harish Rao said ‘they were going to promote check dams on big scale in the state and construct check dams near Swarna irrigation project in Mudhole in the Adilabad to improve the ground water table for agriculture purposes and said state government will give nine hours uninterrupted power to agriculture from next Kharif’.

State government is making serious efforts to install new electric transformers and set up power sub-station to give uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture in future.

On a Mission, babus forget mandals

Drought takes toll on animals