Farmers in the rain-shadow Chittoor district are a happy lot with incessant rains this week, having waged several years of a vexed battle with perennial drought conditions in the region. The rains have brought copious inflows into thousands of village tanks, check dams, farm ponds and lifted the sagging groundwater levels to a phenomenal surge, besides bringing “surplus” waters into reservoirs.
In September-October, four spells of rain lashed several parts of the western mandals, while the eastern side presented a lesser happy picture with normal to below normal rains.
Of the 66 mandals in the district, the tri-state Kuppam Assembly constituency with its four mandals of Kuppam, Gudupalle, Shantipuram and Ramakuppam, received unprecedented rains, considered a rare spectacle in the last two decades.
Kuppam region received four spells of rain in recent weeks, registering 20 cm rainfall on an average. The downpour in the neighbouring Nandi Hills and Kolar region of Karnataka had brought record inflows into the bone-dry Palar river since October. In the second week, this perennially dry river received a massive gush of waters along its 50-km stretch in Chittoor district, thanks to the lifting of 32 gates of Bethamangalam reservoir in Karnataka.
Collector P.S. Pradyumna said: “It’s a wonderful boon of nature. Nearly 1,600 tanks received surplus waters. As many as 1,160 tanks received 99% of water; near 75% water in 1180 tanks; 50% in 1866 tanks; and more than 30% in 2,326 tanks. More than 75% of the check-dams and farm ponds are brimming with water. The groundwater levels are greatly recharged with the present average level of 14 metres against 24 metres before the rains, amounting to over 80 tmcft. Massive awareness campaigns for water conservation gave cent per cent results and the message would continue to be spread with more zeal. New and more scientific planning would be ushered into agriculture and horticulture arenas,” the Collector said.
Superintending Engineer (Irrigation) S. Ramakrishna said the rains had brought surplus water into the two main reservoirs of NTR Jalasayam in Chittoor and Krishnapuram reservoir in Karveti Nagaram. The Bahuda and Pedderu dams too received good inflows at 280 and 200 tmcft levels and the situation might improve further in coming weeks. However, the two other important reservoirs of Kalangi, Araniyar and Kalyani received not sufficient levels, but up to 30%,” he said.
Agriculture officials said that the rains had did considerable damage to the groundnut pattern in the district, and there is no any predominant crops being cultivated now.
Another noticeable thing is that rural roads were severely damaged mostly in Kuppam region, besides washing away of the National Highway between V. Kota and Krishnagiri at two vital stretches.
The sad part of the rains is that as many as 11 deaths were recorded in the district, due to viral fevers since September 1. In October first week, a four-member family met watery grave while crossing a rivulet near Chittoor, coupled with a dozen more casualties due to drowning in tanks and being washed away in swirling waters of rivulets elsewhere in the district.
