Thousands of tanks and ponds across the Telangana state are brimming with waters that cater to three crops now. A total of 17,681 tanks are full and 7,145 tanks are overflowing with water. The Mission Kakatiya programme that envisaged desilting of the tanks and strengthening of bunds yielded expected results, if the overflowing tanks are any indication. The programme helped increase the water holding capacity of the age-old defunct tanks in villages. It put an end to the crop holiday from now on.
There are a total of 46,500 tanks of which 34,697 are geotagged. As many as 3,272 tanks are full to 75 per cent while 3,437 tanks are full to 50 per cent capacity. As the rainy season is still on rains are still expected, and all these tanks will be full beyond their capacity. The full water level, irrigation projects and canals and massive construction of check-dams resulted in increased groundwater levels bringing joy to the farmers.
In erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the tanks in the Telangana region turned barren with parched land and defunct totally. They were neglected deliberately forcing the farmers to give up farming and migrate in search of livelihood. Some are forced to depend on borewells and they had problems with poor quality of power and increased tariffs that took their toll.
When Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao assumed the charge in Telangana, he took up reviving tanks as a pious task. Slowly and steadily, he brought them all to life through Mission Kakatiya and a host of other schemes. The amount of dedication and quality of work that went into the revival of centuries-old tanks could be gauged by the recent record-breaking amount of rainfall. The tanks taken up under Mission Kakatiya remained strong without any complaints of breaches to bunds.
In 2010, as many as 4,251 tanks were breached and in 2013 a total of 1,868 tanks were breached in then Andhra Pradesh. After the Mission Kakatiya programme, a total of 43 tanks were breached in 2022. In 2023, 155 tanks sustained minor damages. Now they were all in good condition capable of holding water to their full capacity. The revival of tanks and plantations on the bunds not only changed the bucolic environs of the villages but brought about a change in the rural economy as well.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao