Hans News Service Hyderabad

Irrigationand Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy cautioned farmers to exercise care in crop planning as the rainfall deficit continues, warning that the situation could aggravate if rainfall remains deficient during September and October as projected by the meteorological authorities.

The minister said the State government was closely monitoring rainfall, reservoir levels and inflows before deciding on water release. The continuing rainfall deficit had affected inflows into major reservoirs, including Nagarjuna Sagar, making prudent management of the available water essential.

Referring to the outlook for the remaining monsoon period, Uttam said indications of deficient rainfall during September and October had to be factored into agricultural and water-management decisions.

He appealed to farmers not to base their crop decisions entirely on the expectation of substantial rainfall or fresh reservoir inflows in the coming weeks. “Farmers must carefully assess assured water availability while selecting crops. We have to support agriculture wherever dependable water is available, but at the same time we must safeguard sufficient water for drinking purposes through the summer and until the next monsoon,” he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government would maintain a judicious balance between irrigation and drinking-water requirements. Reservoir releases would be decided on the basis of actual usable storage and realistic assessments of likely inflows rather than assumptions about future rainfall.