Jaladhara works increase groundwater levels in Kurnool district
Kurnool district Collector Dr. A. Siri said the ‘Jaladhara-Jalaharathi’ program was being implemented successfully in the district. The Collector said out of 3,714 works sanctioned
Kurnool district Collector Dr. A. Siri said the ‘Jaladhara-Jalaharathi’ program was being implemented successfully in the district. The Collector said out of 3,714 works sanctioned under NREGS, 3,707 were initiated, and 3,446 have been completed. Approximately 92.78% of the works have been finished. She said that 35 defunct feeder channels, spanning a total length of 35.58 km and serving 16 tanks, were restored through the Water Resources Department.
As a result of these works, the groundwater level in Kosigi Mandal rose by 7.43 meters. The Collector said innovative methods were adopted to enhance water storage capacity in the district. The Retention Pits method was implemented creating compartments and digging pits within streams to increase water retention capacity. In Anantapur, under the ‘Jaladhara-Jalaharati’ program 3,348 works were sanctioned with a sanctioned budget of ₹148.75 crore and all of them have commenced.
District Collector O. Anand said 2,699 works have been completed so far, while 648 are in progress, marking an overall completion rate of 80.62%. He noted that ‘Jaladhara’ works have been fully completed in Pamidi and Raptadu mandals. Regarding groundwater levels, he said there was an improvement of 1.80 meters with the level rising from 14.33 meters in May to 12.53 meters by July 3.
He mentioned that the Jaladhara works resulted in a groundwater recharge of 0.141 TMC, while 0.46 TMC of groundwater was restored through check dam desilting, feeder channel improvements, and tank restoration.
The BriefWire