VIJAYAWADA: Forewarning of severe drought-like conditions across Andhra Pradesh due to a sharp El Niño-driven rainfall deficit, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu unveiled a comprehensive Five-Point Strategy in the Legislative Assembly on Monday to safeguard crops, conserve water, and protect farmer livelihoods.
Addressing the House during a discussion on the climate phenomenon, Naidu revealed that against an expected 867 mm of rainfall between June and December 2026, the state is projected to receive only around 557 mm.
Specific monthly rainfall deficits include up to 68 percent in July in certain districts, 35 per cent in August and September, 25 per cent in October, and 20 per cent in November, offset by a minor 1 percent excess rainfall expected in December.
This shortfall has critically depleted major river basins and reservoirs; Srisailam received merely 214 TMC of water against its normal 753 TMC due to low upper-riparian inflows, while inflows into the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage reached just 1,071 TMC against 2,557 TMC.
To mitigate acute shortages across the Krishna Delta, Prakasam, Nellore, Rayalaseema, and areas extending to Chennai—which collectively require 121.4 TMC of water—the state continues to divert Godavari waters via the Pattiseema project, having already routed 500 TMC to protect over 13 lakh acres of ayacut, with plans to transfer an additional 40 TMC.
Warning that El Niño threatens both agriculture and economic inflation, the Chief Minister urged farmers in water-stressed zones, particularly the Krishna region, to avoid water-intensive paddy—which has already seen a 1.14 lakh hectare drop in cultivation—and switch to horticulture, millets, or dry-sowing methods like Pre-Monsoon Dry Sowing (PMDS).
The drought condition is also impacting horticulture in Rayalaseema, banana and chilli crops in South Andhra, and cashew and coconut plantations in North Andhra. To safeguard dairy livelihoods, the government is establishing 20,000 ‘Gokulam’ sheds and securing fodder supplies in high-risk zones.
Outlining a short-term action plan alongside a long-term roadmap that includes completing 36 key projects worth `35,555 crore by December 2028 and expediting Polavaram left canal works to supply 30–40 TMC to Visakhapatnam’s industrial and data centre sectors, Naidu detailed the state’s strategic response.
To counter the impact, the government’s Five-Point Strategy focuses on strengthening local Raitanna Mee Kosam action committees to guide farmers at the grassroots level and ensuring maximum crop insurance enrollment before the end-of-August deadline.
The Chief Minister noted that the coalition government cleared past state dues to cover 35.17 lakh farmers—including a 10-fold jump in non-loanee enrollments to 20.35 lakh.