Telangana CM asks officials to talk to Karnataka for water from Narayanpur reservoir for drinking purpose in Hyderabad

రాష్ట్రంలోని అన్ని పట్టణాలు, గ్రామాల్లో తాగునీటికి ఇబ్బంది తలెత్తకుండా అవసరమైన చర్యలు తీసుకోవాలని ముఖ్యమంత్రి @revanth_anumula అధికారులను ఆదేశించారు. పెరుగుతున్న ఎండల కారణంగా రాబోయే రెండు నెలలు అప్రమత్తంగా ఉండాలన్నారు. తాగునీటి సరఫరాకు అంతరాయం లేకుండా నిరంతరం పర్యవేక్షించాలని…

— Telangana CMO (@TelanganaCMO) April 12, 2024

Related: As temperature increases in Hyderabad, so do water woes

Water supply and politics

The chief minister, at a review meeting on the status of drinking water supply and the procurement of paddy in the state, said officials should not hesitate to draw water from the dead storage of the Nagarjuna Sagar Project for drinking water for the residents of Hyderabad.

He also wanted the officials to look into the possibility of drawing water from the Singur reservoir for Hyderabad.

Revanth was annoyed over the reports of overzealous staff interrupting the drinking water supply, and warned that those who disrupted the water supply on purpose would be sacked.

Senior officials should keep a watch on those who were out to sully the image of the state government, he said.

The chief minister asked the officials to lay special emphasis on easing the drinking water supply elsewhere in the state.

Underscoring the need for better water supply management in the next two months, when the demand would be at its peak vis-a-vis plummeting water levels in the reservoirs, he said that the officials should always be on guard and take remedial measures whenever necessary.

Revanth also said he felt that though the drinking water supply was more now compared to last year, the demand had gone up steeply.

He said because of the adverse seasonal conditions, the underground water table has gone further down, forcing people to depend on piped water supply for drinking and other purposes.

He asked the officials to attend to any complaint of water scarcity on a priority basis. He asked the chief secretary to review the situation daily and take necessary action wherever there was a problem.

The chief secretary was also instructed to review with the officials in charge of Mission Bhagiratha, municipal water supply, power utilities, and the Irrigation Department to ease the problem.

Special officers appointed for all the undivided districts should visit the problem areas and identify the villages where the people are experiencing difficulty with water supply.

Related: Revanth directs officials to prepare to address drinking water shortage

On paddy procurement

The chief minister, reviewing the status of procurement of paddy from the farmers, warned the middlemen and millers against exploiting farmers by forcing them to undersell their produce.

He said he wanted the officials concerned to make sure that the farmers got the minimum support price for their paddy.

He also asked the officials to cancel the licences of millers and traders if they were found resorting to any arm-twisting measures. He wanted millers and traders blacklisted.

Revanth said it had come to his notice that millers and middlemen in some areas were paying less on the pretext that the moisture content was more in the paddy brought to the procurement centres.

He advised the farmers to dry the paddy at the thrashing centres before taking them to the centre to prevent the middlemen from robbing them.

He also asked the officials to create facilities for the farmers at the market yards to dry their paddy. There should be CCTV cameras to prevent pilferage of paddy from farmers, he said.

The chief minister also wanted the procurement of paddy to be reviewed at the state level on a daily basis. He asked the IAS officers appointed to ease the drinking water supply in problem areas to also focus on the procurement of paddy from the farmers.

He said that enough tarpaulins were made available for the farmers to protect their food grains from the ravages of the hailstorms.

(Edited by Arkadev Ghoshal)