The rainfall deficit during the southwest monsoon this year has taken a heavy toll on the groundwater table in Telangana, irrespective of the fact that the State has received higher rainfall this year compared to last year, with the average depletion of nearly 3 metres.
It has improved marginally in Hyderabad city and Khammam districts by 0.48 and 0.29 metres, respectively. According to officials of the Groundwater Department, Nizamabad district has suffered badly with groundwater table going down by a maximum of 6.57 metres by September-end, compared to the same period last year.
The average level of groundwater table below the surface stood at 11.74 metres at the beginning of this month, while it was 8.82 during the corresponding period last year. The depletion of groundwater table in Nizamabad, Medak, Mahabubnagar, Ranga Reddy, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda and Adilabad is likely to have an adverse impact on the cultivation of food and horticulture crops in the rabi season under dug/tube wells.
“Depletion of groundwater level is sure to have an impact, particularly on paddy, the cultivation of which is increasingly dependent on dug/tube wells in the absence of water for irrigation in any of the major projects. Paddy was cultivated only in 6.15 lakh hectares against the normal extent of 10.59 lakh hectares in kharif, thanks to water in some irrigation tanks and medium irrigation projects besides dug/tube wells,” Secretary (Agriculture) C. Parathasarathi explained. Officials of the Agriculture Department have also expressed doubts over the fate of paddy cultivation in rabi, during which season it is cultivated in 6.45 lakh hectares normally.
Amid such scenario, good southwest monsoon rainfall in majority areas of Khammam, Adilabad and Warangal districts and a few selected pockets in the remaining districts has also improved the groundwater table. It has risen up to 2 metres at 48 places, from 2 to 4 metres at 15 places and above 4 metres at a dozen places, where the Groundwater Department has monitoring stations.
However, the water table has plummeted over 4 metres at 122 places, between 2 and 4 metres at 73 places and up to 2 metres at 83 places at the beginning of this month compared to the same period last year. Similarly, the Groundwater Department officials said that the water table slipped to beyond 20 metres depth at 63 places, followed by 10-20 metres at 118 places, 5-10 metres at 88 places, 2-5 metres at 64 places and below 2 metres at 20 places.
