Adoni in the grip of drinking water crisis despite good monsoon rains

 Even before the onset of summer, many areas in the district are in the grip of drinking water crisis.
People draw water from a source in agriculture fields in Mugaladoddi village in Kosigi mandal of Kurnool district. (Photo | EPS)
People draw water from a source in agriculture fields in Mugaladoddi village in Kosigi mandal of Kurnool district. (Photo | EPS)

KURNOOL: Even before the onset of summer, many areas in the district are in the grip of drinking water crisis. Especially, Adoni revenue division has been facing worst water scarcity. Though the district received sufficient rains this season, Adoni division and several villages in Kurnool revenue division are facing drought situation.

At a time, when acute water shortage has started gripping several parts of the district, several public wells, dug up to ensure water supply throughout the year, are crying for the attention of authorities. With tubewells lying defunct and water sources dried up, people have to walk down to ponds to fetch drinking water.

For people of Yemmiganur, Mantralayam and Kodumur Assembly constituencies, river Tungabhadra is the only source of drinking water. 

Alur, Pathikonda, Nandikotkur, Srisailam and Adoni Assembly constituencies are dependent on KC Canal and Handri Neeva low-level canal, which have not been able to supply water regularly, for their needs.

In Kosigi, Aspari, Peddakadabur, Chippagiri, Nandavaram, Tuggali, Belagal, Guduru and Kothapalli, where water supply has gone down drastically, tubewells are either not working or emitting water unfit for human consumption.

Drinking water schemes which were executed in all almost all villages by spending crores of rupees to give solace to the perennially water-starved villages, have proved to be a failure. Most of the schemes are supplying water just on some days against a target of permanent solution.

“All schemes are not supplying drinking water,” said G Ramudu of Agraharam village in Gonegandla Mandal. He said that political leaders and officials have promised to supply drinking water through the schemes, but the supplied water does not suffice. Some villagers blamed the indifferent attitude of the Rural Water Supply Department as the major reason for scarcity of drinking water.

Ramudu said that it was a struggle for people of interior pockets of Adoni revenue division to get a pot of drinking water.  “No one has tried to utilise the water sources to solve the perennial drinking water problem in our villages,” said K Paramesh of Kadivella village in Yemmiganur mandal.

According to sources, nearly 60 per cent of the villages in the district, a total of 1,575 villages, are now reeling under water shortage. 

In some places, people are being forced to walk for kilometres to fetch potable water while in some other areas, people are falling sick after drinking contaminated water from streams and canals. People are literally fighting for drinking water in several mandals like Alur, Halaharvi, Koutalam and Holagunda in Alur constituency, Aspari, Kosigi and Yemmiganur in Yemmiganur, Mantralayam and Nandavaram in Mantralayam. 

Water will be supplied by tankers: Kurnool ZP CEO  
Kurnool Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Venkata Subbaiah said that they have been preparing action plan to solve water crisis in the district this summer. “Presently, we are identifying water scanty areas across the district to solve the problem,” he said. Rural Water Supply Superintending Engineer Ch Vidya Sagar said that they will supply drinking water in needed areas by water tankers. “Our staff is carrying out repairs of defunct water schemes,” he said. 

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