Hyderabad: Water scarcity triggered by the El Nino impact and depleting groundwater levels is not limited to Greater Hyderabad and the CURE area. Rural Telangana, including municipalities and gram panchayats, could also face a similar situation in the coming months, warned officials. Of the state’s total water capacity of 253 tmcft, only 93 tmc of water is available which is expected to last until Jan or Feb.The concern comes amid a 17% rainfall deficit across the state and nearly 30% of minor irrigation tanks and lakes running dry. These water bodies are a crucial source of drinking water for gram panchayats and are also used to meet the water needs of livestock and other purposes.According to irrigation department data, of the 21,500 minor irrigation tanks in Telangana, only 550 tanks are filled to 75%-100% of their capacity. As many as 6,123 tanks have run completely dry, with the little water that they received likely absorbed into the ground. Another 7,141 tanks have water storage up to 25%, while 4,805 are filled between 25-50% of their capacity. Only 2,881 tanks are 50%-75% full.“Of the total water spread area of 3,090 sq km across tanks in the state, only 1,126 sq km, or 36.4%, is currently covered with water. The remaining 1,972 sq km, accounting for 63.6%, is unfilled,” a senior irrigation department official said.The minor irrigation department generally uses tank water for agriculture in addition to drinking water requirements. However, with storage levels significantly lower than in previous years, the available water will be prioritised for drinking purposes, officials said. Some gram panchayats also draw water from the Krishna and Godavari rivers wherever pipeline infrastructure is available.District-wise data shows that Nizamabad has the highest proportion of tanks with water, with 82% of its irrigation tanks holding water. In contrast, only 22% of the 221 tanks in Ranga Reddy and 619 tanks in Rajanna Sircilla have storage levels exceeding 50%. Warangal Urban has only 26% of its tanks filled with water.Panchayat Raj officials said the govt has already started El Nino mitigation measures through works taken up under VB-G Ram G. These include Telangana Jala Siri initiatives like soak pits for every household, ponds for every farm, and percolation tanks for every panchayat and borewell recharge structures.
