Struggling to meet drinking water requirements during the scorching summer, Telangana will approach Karnataka for the release of water from Narayanpur dam across the Krishna river. As there is no availability of water in the Krishna basin, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday, April 12 asked the officials to consult the Karnataka government for the release of water from Narayanpur reservoir for drinking water needs.

The Chief Minister reviewed the drinking water situation in the state and directed the officials to take precautionary measures to prevent drinking water problems in all the towns and villages. He cautioned that the next two months will be more crucial in view of the scorching heat.

Although more drinking water is being supplied compared to last year, it is not enough to meet the water requirement of people, he observed.

The CM alerted the officials to get ready with alternative arrangements even if the demand increases further without any disruption to the supply of drinking water in Hyderabad.

He instructed that if necessary, water will be lifted from Nagarjuna Sagar dead storage to Hyderabad and appropriate arrangements should be made immediately.

According to the officials, the present situation has arisen due to the depletion of the groundwater level.

The officials were asked to continuously monitor the supply of drinking water without interruption and make arrangements for the supply of water from Singur dam in Sangareddy to the city.

The Chief Secretary will hold a review meeting on the drinking water supply every day with the top officials of Mission Bhagiratha, Municipal, Irrigation and Energy Departments. The special officers for drinking water supply for the combined districts have been directed to visit the places facing drinking water problems and take measures to solve the problem and bring it to the attention of the higher officials.

The Chief Minister also reviewed the paddy procurement. He warned that strict action would be taken against those who bought paddy from the farmers at lower prices and asked officials to crack down on the millers who cheated farmers. He stated that trade licences of the millers and traders who buy paddy at low prices in the agricultural market yards will be cancelled and they will be blacklisted. 

Revanth Reddy said it came to his notice that traders and millers reduced the prices due to moisture content in the paddy in some places, and appealed to the farmers to dry the paddy, which contained higher levels of moisture, before bringing it to markets, to get a good price for their agricultural produce. The officials have been asked to make suitable arrangements for drying the paddy and also install CCTVs in the market yards to prevent paddy theft.