Hyderabad: The Telangana govt has decided to revive district irrigation advisory panel immediately. The panels—comprising the district collectors, officials from the irrigation and agriculture departments, elected representatives and other stakeholders—must meet before and during every crop season to assess reservoir and canal supplies and clearly advise farmers on crops that can be safely cultivated in each command area.“The Irrigation advisory boards should review reservoir storage, expected inflows, local rainfall, drinking-water requirements and command-area needs and then issue clear guidance to farmers”, irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said.Addressing collectors through a video-conference along with ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao and Jupally Krishna Rao, chief secretary Sanjay Jaju and other senior officials on Friday, he asked collectors to hold advisory board meetings from Saturday wherever possible in view of the prevailing El Nino conditions that are expected to impact rainfall across the state.The minister sounded a caution to the farmers against going in water- intensive crops including paddy during the current Kharif season under projects that received inadequate inflows so far. He directed district administrations to clearly inform the water situation to farmers before they commit themselves to water-intensive crops. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the present reservoir levels coupled with the rainfall outlook for the latter part of the monsoon, required extremely cautious crop planning.He said the rainfall received during the first part of August had brought some relief and could help support crops in certain command areas. Uttam Kumar Reddy said farmers should not opt for paddy crops merely on the strength of the present spell of rains. “Water levels in Nagarjuna Sagar and SRSPUttam Kumar Reddy asked district collectors to widely publicise the present storage position in the state’s major reservoirs. He said the water levels in Nagarjuna Sagar Sri Ram Sagar Project are yet to improve to the desired levels. Farmers in vulnerable command areas should instead be encouraged to take up alternative and less water-intensive crops, depending on soil conditions and local agricultural advice. He also directed rural water supply officials to work closely with the irrigation department to ensure that sufficient water was reserved for drinking-water needs. He specifically cautioned against releasing water under local or political pressure in a manner that could create a drinking-water crisis during the coming summer.ends/
