Good rainfall during the south-west monsoon season this year has resulted in substantial increase in the groundwater levels in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States, the officials have said.
The south-west monsoon season (June to September), which extended till the October-end this year, brought in copious rains. Both the Telugu-speaking States can now be rest assured of adequate groundwater for the rabi season and the forthcoming summer.
Statistics suggest that the Rayalaseema region recorded excess rainfall of 57% with average actual rainfall of 90 cm when compared to the normal of 54 cm between June 1 and November 11. Telangana also received good rains with excess rainfall of 47 % with actual average rainfall of 127 cm as against the normal of 85 cm.
“Coastal Andhra Pradesh, however, received marginally excess rainfall of 14% with actual average rainfall of 94 cm as against the normal rainfall of 78 cm,” says P.V. Rama Rao, retired Director of the IMD, who have conducted a study on the rainfall distribution and groundwater level.
The weather systems largely benefited Rayalaseema and Telangana, and to a lesser extent coastal Andhra Pradesh. The average ground level in Telangana rose steeply by 23.15 feet due to copious rains between May and October 2020, he explains.
Depression over Bay
In Rayalaseema, there was a significant rise of 11.4 feet in the groundwater levels till September. But, there was a fall in groundwater level by 1.1 feet in coastal Andhra Pradesh till September. However, the rain caused by the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal during October led to an average marginal rise in the groundwater level in coastal Andhra Pradesh by 2 feet, says Mr. Rama Rao.
Groundwater was available at an average depth of 13.84 feet in Telangana, and at 33.36 feet in coastal Andhra Pradesh by the end of October. The average depth of groundwater in Rayalaseema was 54.97 feet by the end of September.
“Groundwater levels in various areas of Visakhapatnam city and district registered a significant rise in October. The average depth at which groundwater was available in the district improved from 6.17 metres in September to 3.95 metres in October,” says M. Nagamalleswara Rao, Deputy Director, Groundwater Department, Visakhapatnam.
