Eighty-year-old Srinivasa Rao from Konijedu village, near Tangutur, had never imagined that he would have to buy water in his lifetime.

The farmer, who has been growing water-intensive crops like paddy for decades, says he thought the day would never come when there would be no water to grow even dry crops like tobacco, black gram and bengal gram.

“Thanks to climate change, all the water sources including the traditional open wells have gone bone dry, making cultivation of even dry crops difficult. Our village has been in the grip of a severe drought for the fifth year in succession,” laments Mr. Srinivasa Rao, staring at the dried up ‘Somaiah Bavi’ in his village located in drought-prone Prakasam district.

“We are now forced to buy water not just for drinking and cooking, but also for bathing and washing,” the veteran farmer tells The Hindu.

The last time that the open wells had copious water was in 2010, adds another villager Subba Reddy. “In a desperate bid to save the rain-fed crops, we sink bore-wells one after the other. But they too go dry after six months or so, forcing us into a debt trap,” says Mr. Subba Reddy.

Mass migration

As a result, all able-bodied persons have migrated to cities and towns in search of jobs leaving behind elderly people and children to fend for themselves.

“Our pleas to the authorities to arrange for Krishna water to fill the Oracheruvu (village water tank) have fallen on deaf ears. We can get relief only when water is arranged from the Ongole branch canal of the Nagarjunasagar Right Bank Canal,” the farmers said.

Meanwhile, the groundwater table in the district has further receded by four metres to 24 metres during this month, putting paid to the efforts of the district administration to ensure a healthy groundwater level of eight metres before the rainy season and three metres after the rainy season. The groundwater depleted to a maximum of 74 metres in Dadawada village, near Kumarole, according to GroundWater Department Deputy Director M. Nagamalleswara Rao.

Action plan

Taking a serious note of the drought condition, the district administration has prepared a plan to provide wage employment to 4.50 lakh families in the district in the most critical months of April to June as a form of compensation for the lack of income during the summer months.

“We have provided jobs to 2.96 lakh families so far in April and the number is likely to go up to 3.50 lakh families in May and then to 4.5 lakh families,” said District Water Management Agency Project Director Y.Venkateswarlu.

An allocation of ₹1,200 crore had been made to provide wage employment to all on a saturation basis as against ₹1,090 crore last year when the district stood first in the State in creation of jobs under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme.

“We will ensure 100 days’ wage employment to at least 1.13 lakh families by June itself,” he added.