The groundwater level in Prakssam fell to 21.97 metres this March, from 14.59 metres in the corresponding period in 2014, thanks to the prolonged dryspell in all the 56 mandals in the drought-affected district.
The dip is more pronounced in western parts as the water level went down by a whooping 40.70 m to 73.55 m in Yerragondapalem in March 2017, as the district faced severe drought for the third consecutive year, putting paid to the hopes of the State government to ensure availability of groundwater at a depth of below 3 m after the rainy season and 8 m before the rainy season.
The ban on sinking of borewells has been extended to 126 over-exploited villages in 10 mandals in western Prakasam, says Deputy Director M. Nagamalleswara Rao in a conversation with The Hindu .
“The ban will be reviewed to include more villages to prevent further fall in groundwater level,” he adds.
Dornala, close to the Nallamalla forests, had a 20.02 m fall in groundwater level to touch the 65 m mark in March 2017, while the level was 61.0 m in Cumbumpadu in Peddaraveedu mandal making matters worse for the district administration to ensure drinking water to the people in the district where more than 1,000 habitations are fluoride-affected.
In Giddalur in western Prakasam, the level stood at 61.3 m, according to the shallow water table aquifer piezometer readings done by the Groundwater Department. The groundwater level in Daddavada village in Kumarolu mandal, adopted by Ongole MP Y.V. Subba Reddy under the Prime Minister’s Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY), was at 62.9 m, as against 64.97 m in March 2016. Water could not be seen even at a depth of 800 feet, making the task of providing people with safe drinking water difficult, particularly in the western parts. In contrast, the groundwater level was a healthy 2.45 m in Kandukur followed by Parchur (3.3 m), Darsi (3.91 m), Kothapatnam(3.65 m), Vetapalem(4.55 m), Santamagaluru(4.97 m), Martur (5.86 m) and Tripurantakam(7.35 m) and Maddipadu (7.43m) in the coastal region. In other mandals, it was more than the ideal 8 m.
