Mission Kakatiya wows US varsities

Chicago University researchers to study impact of Mission Kakatiya

• The study would compare the changes that occurred in villages where abandoned water tanks are restored under the Mission
• The govt has agreed to provide office space and accommodation to the team of researchers
• The govt and university representatives would enter into an MoU in June second week to this effect
  

Hyderabad: Reputed universities from America are making a beeline to study the State government’s prestigious programme – Mission Kakatiya - to revive water tanks. After Michigan, the University of Chicago has come forward to evaluate the impact of the mission on environmental, economic and agricultural outcome in the State.

The government also gave its nod to the team by providing office space and accommodation to the team of researchers. The government and the representatives of the university would enter into an MoU in June second week to this effect.

The university would take up an in-depth study of the project to compare the changes that occurred in villages where the abandoned water tanks are restored under the Mission programmes. “The researchers would look into the improvements in agricultural output for key crops such as rice, cotton and maize, income of farmers and the water table levels before and after the tank repairs were carried out,” an irrigation official said.

The study will also focus on tanks that were not repaired in the first two years of Mission Kakatiya, to conduct a baseline survey of agricultural output before a tank was rehabilitated. The objective is to understand the changes in agricultural output that would have occurred in the absence of the project, especially in the light of consecutive drought years.

Tanks will be chosen randomly and satellite imagery would be used to study the rainfall, health of the water table and agricultural output. Tanks will be divided into two groups – those to be repaired from October 2016-March 2017 and from July 2017-October 2017.