Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will convene a special Cabinet meeting on Monday to review the state’s drought situation, with deficient rainfall, falling irrigation storage and rising concerns over drinking water, crops and power supply placing pressure on government resources.
The meeting will examine the condition of agriculture, irrigation, drinking water supply and electricity demand, according to a report by Deccan Chronicle. It will also consider immediate relief measures, the drought subcommittee’s action plan and suggestions from an all-party meeting, farmers’ organisations and experts.
Telangana recorded 615.5 mm of rainfall during the southwest monsoon season, against a normal 740.6 mm, representing a 17 per cent deficit. Although the state remained within the India Meteorological Department’s normal rainfall category, 18 of its 33 districts received deficient rainfall.
The state has identified around 235 mandals as facing drought-like conditions. The situation has raised concerns over potential crop losses, rural livelihoods and the availability of water for standing crops and drinking purposes in the coming months.
Water storage in minor irrigation tanks has fallen sharply. Of the 21,500 tanks being monitored across Telangana, 17,677 had less than half their storage capacity as of October 3. As many as 12,944 tanks had either dried up or contained less than a quarter of their normal storage.
The total storage in the monitored tanks stood at 94.30 thousand million cubic feet, or tmc ft, against their combined capacity of 253.80 tmc ft. The figures underline the pressure on the state’s decentralised water infrastructure, which supports irrigation and local water availability across rural areas.
Farmers in several districts have also protested against frequent and unscheduled interruptions to three-phase electricity supply. They have alleged that the outages are disrupting irrigation operations and damaging pump-set motors, adding power management to the state’s drought response.
The Telangana Legislative Assembly has already adopted a resolution seeking the declaration of drought-affected mandals and financial assistance from the Centre. The state government has sought a special package of Rs 20,000 crore to address the rainfall deficit and support affected farmers.
The Cabinet’s review is expected to focus on measures to minimise crop losses and manage available water and power resources. The meeting will also consider inputs from stakeholders and experts as the state assesses the effects of the deficient monsoon in the coming months.
