MLAs express concern over falling water levels
Two MLAs of Dharmavaram and Kadiri Assembly constituencies Varadapuram Suri and Chand Basha have expressed grave concern at the water levels in Chitravathi Balancing Reservoir(CBR) dipping to rock bottom levels. They visited the CBR site along with the media team to highlight the issue.
Chitravathi(Anantapur): Two MLAs of Dharmavaram and Kadiri Assembly constituencies Varadapuram Suri and Chand Basha have expressed grave concern at the water levels in Chitravathi Balancing Reservoir(CBR) dipping to rock bottom levels. They visited the CBR site along with the media team to highlight the issue.
The dam has just 1 tmc of water left which could not be pumped up effectively due to the presence of silt in the reservoir. MLAs Suri and Basha have pressed into action engineering personnel to remove the silt and to relocate water pipes to the area where water is concentrated in the reservoir.
Last year, MLA Suri said that the government could bring 25 tmc of water through the Hundri Neeva but this year due to bad monsoon there was no water release through the Hundri Neeva nor by the Tunga Bhadra Dam due to poor inflows into it.
The TB dam has now 60 tmc of water. Karnataka is expected to release water by the end of the month while the Irrigation Development Board is expected to meet on August 30th to take stock of the precarious water position in the district. About 8 lakh people are dependent upon Chitravathi for drinking water.
Chitravathi caters to Kadiri, Dharmavaram and Puttaparthi municipalities. Even if the water at the rock bottom level is pumped for supplies, the water would last just for another week, say the irrigation officials. Dharmavaram requires 43 million litres per day(MLD) and Kadiri and Puttaparthi 70 MLD of water.
Kadiri MLA Chand Basha said that last year 26 tmc was released through HLC and 25 tmc through Hundri Neeva. He said that in 10 days, water from Gandikota is expected to bail out the district as well as the expected TB dam water by the end of the month. He said that he would ensure that a minimum of 130 litres of water will be supplied to the citizens of Kadiri.
Work is going on right now desilting the area near the in-take well that pumps water through the pipelines that are connected to Kadiri. All RO plants have been requested to supply water free of cost if need be to all citizens as part of their social responsibility towards the people. If need be tankers would supply drinking water to people, he assured.About 2,080 villages are dependent on Tungabhadra Dam for drinking water purpose. These villages are supplied drinking water through the PABR and CBR.
