HYDERABAD: Stating that Telangana was already experiencing the effects of deficit rainfall, with reservoir levels remaining below expectations, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday warned that the situation required careful management and the state can no longer rely on historical rainfall patterns.
Addressing a seminar on climate change organised by the non-profit platform Symposium, the minister expressed concern over the possibility of a “Super El Nino” and said the government was preparing to deal with increasing uncertainty over water availability.
“We can now clearly feel the impact of deficit rainfall. Reservoir levels are not as they should be by now. The situation requires careful management,” he said.
Uttam said the state could no longer rely on historical rainfall patterns while planning water resources and called for irrigation systems to be redesigned to account for climate variability rather than past averages.
“The real question before us is not whether climate change will affect our water systems — it already is. The question is whether our institutions and our systems of governance are changing quickly enough to keep pace with it,” he said.
The minister said the government had ensured long-term drinking water security for Hyderabad through planned investments in bringing water from the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
Expressing concern over depleting groundwater, Uttam said the government was promoting rainwater harvesting on a large scale to improve groundwater recharge.
He also acknowledged that disappearing lakes had become a common problem across Indian cities and said the Congress government had prioritised the restoration and rejuvenation of Hyderabad’s lakes and water bodies. The minister added that the government was implementing an extensive programme to reclaim, protect and restore lakes while preserving natural drainage systems.