Mysuru: With Mysuru district facing a significant rainfall deficit due to a weak monsoon, District In-charge Secretary Dr. S. Selvakumar has directed officials to take all possible measures to ensure that residents do not face a drinking water crisis.
Chairing a drought management meeting at the D. Devaraj Urs Auditorium in the Zilla Panchayat office, Dr. Selvakumar instructed officials to identify villages vulnerable to water scarcity and prepare contingency plans to meet drinking water requirements.
Officials asked to identify vulnerable villages
Dr. Selvakumar said officials must ensure that no part of the district experiences a shortage of drinking water because of the monsoon deficit.
He directed authorities to identify the nearest water sources for vulnerable villages and, wherever required, source water from private borewells and deploy water tankers to ensure uninterrupted supply.
Rainfall deficit affects agriculture
The District In-charge Secretary noted that poor monsoon rainfall has severely affected sowing activities, raising concerns over crop losses and reduced agricultural production.
He instructed the Agriculture Department to maintain adequate stocks of fertilisers and asked officials to make arrangements for supplying fodder to livestock to minimise the impact of drought conditions on farmers.
District records 45% rainfall deficit
Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy informed the meeting that Mysuru has recorded a 45 per cent rainfall deficit since January.
He said the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) Reservoir currently holds 17 tmcft of water, while the Kabini Reservoir has 13 tmcft and the Hemavathi Reservoir has 21 tmcft.
The Deputy Commissioner added that drinking water is presently being supplied to 16 severely affected villages through private borewells and water tankers. Tankers have also been deployed in areas under the Rammanahalli Town Panchayat.
Despite the rainfall shortfall, he assured that the district currently has sufficient water to meet its drinking water requirements.
The meeting was attended by Zilla Panchayat CEO S. Ukesh Kumar, Mysuru City Corporation Commissioner M.K. Savitha and officials from various government departments.