Asserting that effective preparedness is needed to tackle the El Nino situation, Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav directed officials to monitor the prevailing situation in Anantapur district on a daily basis and submit periodic reports. The Minister held a meeting on Monday with District Collector O. Anand and officials from Agriculture, Horticulture, HNSS, HLC, Minor Irrigation, RWS, and other departments to review the current El Niño conditions and drinking water supply.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Keshav directed that a liaison officer be appointed from the district to coordinate with senior officials in the State capital regarding these conditions. He emphasised the need for continuous monitoring of the measures and progress within departments and urged all officials to work responsibly and remain prepared to tackle the crisis situations arising from El Niño.

Mr. Keshav ordered the HLC (High-Level Canal) system to be placed on high alert and warned that no official under the HLC jurisdiction should be absent from duty. “Everyone must be available round-the-clock and negligence would not be tolerated,” he said, recalling his surprise inspection of the intake well supplying drinking water from the PABR Dam’s Sri Rami Reddy Project to Uravakonda, where neither officials nor workers were present.

He reviewed details regarding the HLC system, including current water storage levels in the PABR Dam, usable water limits, the duration the supply would last, the schedule for water release from Tungabhadra Dam, and the inflow rates (in cusecs) from the Tunga and Bhadra rivers into the Tungabhadra Dam.

Mr. Keshav directed that drinking water tanks be filled within 25 to 30 days of the water arriving from the HLC and insisted that a blueprint for this operation be prepared in advance.