ANANTAPUR: After battling decades of drought, the erstwhile united Anantapur district is witnessing prosperity with bountiful of water.
Once synonymous with water scarcity, the region comprising Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts, is now brimming with water inflows from the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, aided by major irrigation projects.
The Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi Project and the High Level Main Canal (HLMC) have played a pivotal role in enhancing water storage levels in reservoirs, canals and tanks in the two districts.
Over the past eight months, the canal system has delivered 107.557 TMC of water, with current storage in reservoirs, tanks and groundwater sources standing at 63.667 TMC.
Rainfall has also been near normal this season. Anantapur district had recorded 456.4 mm against the normal rainfall of 462.7 mm, while Sri Sathya Sai received 503.9 mm against its 529.2 mm average.
Together, the two districts received an estimated 323 TMC of rainwater, and of which nearly 39 TMC percolated into the ground, strengthening groundwater reserves, which are now put at 33.010 TMC.
44.042 tmc of Krishna water lifted since July
The reservoirs and tanks in the two districts are showing renewed vitality. Anantapur’s 304 tanks and Sri Sathya Sai’s 1,180 tanks have a combined storage capacity of 22.89 tmc. Now, the total water storage in tanks of the two districts has been put at 6.59 TMC.
Under the Handri Neeva project, 44.042 tmc of Krishna water has been lifted since July with 42.560 tmc reaching district borders. Sri Sathya Sai alone has received 24.052 TMC, while HLMC releases added another 29.131 TMC, and of which 17.298 TMC remains stored in reservoirs.