ADILABAD: The worsening water crisis linked to the El Nino effect has forced the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), popularly known as IIIT Basara, in Nirmal district, to extend the Dasara holidays for students. The reopening has been postponed indefinitely as the campus receives only half its daily water requirement.
Vice-Chancellor A Govardhan told TNIE that the campus, which houses around 9,000 students and 1,000 staff members, requires 20 lakh litres of water a day. However, the intake well on the Godavari river is currently supplying only about 10 lakh litres. The water quality has also deteriorated, raising concerns over its suitability for use.
The RGKUT has depended on an intake well constructed in the Godavari in 2010. Under normal conditions, it supplies the campus’s daily requirement, with surplus water stored in a reservoir. However, critically low water levels in the river have disrupted the supply.
Officials from the university’s technical wing said the Sriramsagar Project did not have sufficient water and that the release of water from Maharashtra had also been an issue. With water levels in the Godavari falling critically low near Basara, the intake well is unable to meet the campus’s needs. The stagnant water has also raised quality concerns.
Spread across nearly 300 acres, the campus had earlier seen around 30 borewells dug, some reaching depths of about 800 feet, but none yielded water. The Godavari remains its only dependable source.
Govardhan said the administration would decide on an alternative source of water within a week, after which the reopening date would be announced. He added that steps would be taken to ensure students did not lose an academic year, including conducting online classes if necessary.
RGKUT has students from PUC I and II to engineering courses E1 to E4. Its decision to extend the holidays comes as educational institutions across the state prepare to reopen on Friday after the Dasara break.
