Download Effective water management will bring down

June 20, 2015
Hyderabad
Effective water management will bring
down poverty levels: CM
As economic development is directly linked to the management of water resources for
sustainable use and poverty alleviation, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is focusing
on bringing the ground-water level to a level between 3 to 8 metres.
At a reviewing meeting on Primary Sector growth engines today at Secretariat, the Chief
Minister asked officials from the Water Resources Department to devise a plan to bring
the ground water level in the state to 8 metres. “Make sure that the plan regulates and
restricts water usage beyond 8 metres,” he added.
According to a report titled “Impact of the Access to Ground Water on Rural Poverty &
Conflict”, rural poverty is 9-10% higher in rural areas of India if the ground water level
is beyond 8 metres. This report correlates the effect of groundwater access on rural
poverty.
In this direction, the Chief Minister suggested the Water Resources Department to
analyse water levels across all the reservoirs, tanks, canals/water bodies in the state
and update the data online. “Fix sensors at all water bodies so that we obtain real-time
information on the water available village-wise, mandal-wise and district-wise in the
state. This way, we can calculate our usage and manage water effectively,” he added.
The Chief Minister added that the department could also monitor rainfall in each zone
and compare the data with the predicted rainfall in that zone. “This will give us a picture
about the rainfall assessment across different zones in the state,” he said, adding that it
will also help in flood management.
To improve ground water table, the Chief Minister directed the department to install
automatic Piezometres and update the levels online within two months. He also asked
them to geo-tag borewells, tanks, canals and all water bodies in order to finish the
availability of surface and ground water within two months. “Water-mapping and water
auditing has to take place regularly,” he added.
On a priority basis, focus on recharging tanks, borewells in mandals that are categorized
under a) over-exploited, b) Critical and c) semi-critical and bring them on par with
water-sufficient mandals, the Chief Minister said.
“Assign one water resource officer in every district who will regulate and monitor water
levels and update it to the department on a daily basis,” the Chief Minister said,
continuing that he/ she could be of the rank of a Chief Engineer or Superintending
Engineer.
Once the assessment is completed within two months, the Chief Minister asked the
department to assess the impact of water management and how it has improved
agriculture and allied activities in the state.
The state government, as part its Double-Digit growth strategy, has identified
Agriculture and Allied activities as growth engines including agriculture, horticulture,
livestock and fisheries.
Given that effective water management will improve agriculture yield, the Chief
Minister said the government will form a sub-committee (comprising of agriculture
minister, water resources minister and finance minister) for farmer welfare and meet
every month. “The funds can be utilized through the Farmers’ Empowerment
Corporation (FEC),” he added.
Through Mee Bhoomi portal and Aadhar linkage, the agriculture department will have
to then enlist farmer-wise crop data which will also be categorized into village, mandal
and district-wise crop data.
With regard to fisheries, the Chief Minister asked the department to bring the
contribution of fisheries to GSDP to 20% per annum. “The state is witnessing good
rainfall this year. Therefore, pisciculture should be encouraged on a large scale,” he
added.
Even livestock’s contribution to GSDP should increase, the Chief Minister said. “Focus on
increasing milk production and involve private sector in marketing and processing of
dairy products.”
Stating that Andhra Pradesh should have earmarked clusters/hubs for crops identified
as growth engines, the Chief Minister also suggested having “organic” hubs.
Given that the state is unique in having the maximum number of varieties of
horticulture crops in the state, the Chief Minister said that horticulture’s contribution to
the GSDP should increase to 33%.
The government has identified Banana, Chillies, Tomato, Mango, Lemon, Papaya,
Batavia and Cashewnut as growth engines. The Chief Minister suggested adding
Coconut and Cocoa to the list and to increase the crop cultivation in Andhra Pradesh.
The Chief Minister also suggested officials to study the Kerala model of training to
farmers in order to maximize production.
Special Chief Secretary SP Tucker, Secretary to CM Sai Prasad, HODs Vijay Kumar,
Adityanath Das, Usha Rani and planning department officials were present.
Photos: https://andhrapradeshcmo.box.com/s/pfah2p80jaqq8k2ck4evukzp5jk0hehi