Visakhapatnam: With just before the beginning of the summer season, water crisis has hit Andhra Pradesh with many districts have gone dry and some other districts are facing acute water shortage. As per a report by the Deccan Chronicle, over 1400 hamlets in the hilltop areas of the Parvathipuram Manyam and ASR districts are facing a serious drinking water crisis this summer.
As the water crisis came to the limelight, the district administrations of these districts said they are preparing an action plan to address the crisis and added that some of the 1200 affected villages are located in ASR district and 187 in Manyam district.
Other sensitive hamlets in ASR District where the water crisis is acute are located in Ananthagiri, Munchingput, Paderu town and nearby villages, Araku Valley and a few pockets of Hukumpeta bordering the Devarapalli mandal of Anakapalli district.
While addressing the issue, ASR district collector Dinesh Kumar said that the groundwater has receded in 400 odd hamlets and many of these villages depend on spring water sources and they often dry up in mid-summer.
He stated that the district administration has identified 360 permanent spring water sources in the agency so far and as part of the Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the administration has provided piped water to 300 villages. More such villages will be covered in the coming months, he said.
According to the district collector, an action plan has been prepared to deal with the crisis and it would cost around Rs 630 crore. He further added that the action plan would permanently solve the drinking water crisis in the entire ASR district.
On the other hand, collector Shyam Prasad in Parvathipuram Manyam district asked the officials to prepare an action plan by March 15 so that the crisis can be mitigated in the peak summer months of May and June. He also said no drinking water issue should arise from any part of the district.
In the meantime, he asked the officials to take up desiltation of bore wells, do maintenance works and provide drinking water to remote habitats under the Jal Jeevan Mission. If necessary, funds worth Rs 1 crore would be sought from the ITDA to augment the water supply.