It looks as if the rain god has ditched Sangareddy this time around. It’s the third week of July and Sangareddy is yet to find mention in the weather bulletin
In December, the State government had issued orders to divert 16 tmcft of surplus water from Singur reservoir to Sriram Saga project (SRSP) in Karimnagar district. The State had diverted that much water at one instance in the hope that the reservoir will get filled up in the next monsoon season.
“We are not diverting water to any other State. SRSP is in Telangana and we have diverted water to SRSP to save the standing crops. Is it wrong?” was the question posed by ruling party leaders.
Three years down the lane - from 2018 to July 2020- even on July 20, Singur reservoir is almost bone dry and no one knows whether it will get filled up this time. As on Monday there is only 0.675 tmcft water against he total capacity of 29.917 tmcft.
In spite of many Telangana districts getting good rain, there has been no inflows into Singur from the catchment areas. The indications are also not that rosy. “Usually there will be some inflows from upstream in the month of July, but this time around it is only a trickle. If there are no good rains in the catchment areas till September, the situation will turn worse and the district may have to face another drought year. Ground water might be the worse hit,” said an irrigation officer on condition of anonymity.
Though Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has repeatedly assured that Kaleshwaram water would be diverted to Singur, it is a long way to go as land acquisition for canals is yet to commence according to officials.