Revanth, Uttam to seek Centre’s aid over El Niño impact

Hyderabad: To tackle the impact of El Niño, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 15 to seek financial assistance. They will take up the challenges arising from the prevailing El Niño conditions and their impact on Telangana.

The State government will apprise the Prime Minister of the drought situation, deficient rainfall and their adverse implications for agriculture, farmers and rural livelihoods. They will seek the Centre’s support and adequate financial assistance to mitigate farmers’ hardships and provide relief to drought-affected areas.

The State government has already submitted proposals seeking financial assistance of Rs 30,000 crore towards crop loss and drought conditions.

Meanwhile, the State government is preparing a coordinated action plan to boost groundwater recharge, regulate extraction and promote water-efficient cropping in view of the possibility of groundwater stress in the coming months.

Reviewing the situation with officials and experts at the Secretariat on Friday, along with Minister Vakiti Srihari, Uttam Kumar Reddy said a comprehensive assessment of groundwater availability would be undertaken to guide conservation measures and farmers’ cropping choices ahead of the Yasangi (Rabi) season. He said the government would examine measures to strengthen the Groundwater Department and institutionalise rainwater harvesting and conservation until the next monsoon.

CSIR-Northeast Institute of Science and Technology expert Prof Virendra Tiwari, who joined the meeting virtually, suggested an immediate assessment of rainfall against groundwater storage using the Groundwater Estimation Committee model. A preliminary assessment could be completed within a few days, he said. He also proposed a small task force reporting to the State leadership, with frequent reviews to monitor the situation and coordinate corrective measures.