A drought situation looms large in the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh as deficit rainfall was recorded in all of them. The predictions of weathermen for July and August are not encouraging either.

There seems to be no hope for the kharif crop, unless the monsoon turns vigorous in July and August. A delayed kharif crop faces the threat of cyclones in November and December.

The water levels in the reservoirs too are decreasing alarmingly, with the Nagarjunasagar almost touching the dead storage point. There have been no rains in Karnataka and Maharashtra and the levels are plummeting in Srisailam too, besides Nagarjunasagar. The Sagar right canal provides irrigation water to land in Guntur and Prakasam districts, while the left canal carries water to Telangana districts.

The position in the Krishna delta, to which water is released from the Prakasam barrage at Vijayawada, is quite hopeless. Only 6 tmc ft of water has been allocated so far for drinking water purpose, but even that has not been fully released from Nagarjunasagar.

There is much dispute between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the issue. To make matters worse, the water level of Godavari is also drastically down this year and the paddy crop in the Godavari delta (East and West Godavari districts) is also facing water shortage.

In the uplands of the two Godavari districts too, the position is grim. The Agriculture Department officials are busy preparing contingency plans in case the monsoon continues to play truant in the coming two months. Farmers are also unhappy with the TDP-BJP Government for not waiving farm loans as promised. Rescheduling of loans may not be of much help.

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