Groundwater levels fast depleting in coastal Andhra

Groundwater levels in coastal Andhra are fast drying up. The water levels have already gone down by 500 feet in the upland areas of nine coastal districts from Srikakulam to Nellore and in several areas including limestone-rich Narasaraopet and Macherla in Guntur district.

The depletion of groundwater levels is worse in Prakasam, parts of Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Srikakulam districts.

"Though the farmers of Godavari districts are in a comfortable position, their counterparts in agency areas worry about the prospects of monsoon. A number of tribal villages has been reeling under the acute drinking water scarcity problem. In Nellore and parts of Krishna districts, seawater has seeped in and spread up to 15-20 km underground making soil saline and unfit for cultivation,' A Anand Paul, senior geologist, Rural Water Supply, Panchayat Raj, said.

According to Paul, farmers of parched upland areas would require at least 800 mm rainfall to carry on agricultural operations this year. This, he says, is unlikely to be met as the coastal districts experienced deficit rainfall for the last three years.

"If the situation continues this year too, farmers will have to strictly stick to modern water preservation and management methods during kharif (first crop) season," he says.

"The alarming situation makes it compulsory for farmers and people in general to construct checkdams, percolation tanks, rainwater and roofwater harvesting structures, contour trenches and gully plugging," he adds.

M Madhusudan, deputy director, Groundwater Department, Krishna district, said that the 28 delta mandals in Krishna district might overcome the groundwater depletion problem if rains are on time.

"The problem is acute in 22 upland mandals. The department has set up 42 observation wells with piezo meters to monitor groundwater levels in the district every hour on a permanent basis. The average fall of groundwater levels in Krishna district is 0.56 metres this year."