: Mission Kakatiya: Water holding capacity increased in ponds #IndiaNEWS #Telangana Hyderabad: Mission Kakatiya, the flagship programme taken up by the State government with the objective of restoring

Mission Kakatiya: Water holding capacity increased in ponds #IndiaNEWS #Telangana
Hyderabad: Mission Kakatiya, the flagship programme taken up by the State government with the objective of restoring ponds, has proved to be a successful exercise, in that it increased the water holding capacity of water bodies across the State, and helped in increasing the ground water level to 4. 14 meters, virtually making the perennial water scarcity during summer a thing of the past.
Ponds and wells are a source of livelihood for the people of Telangana. The geography of Telangana region and the rainfall pattern made the method of storing water through ponds and using it for agriculture ideal, a senior official said, adding that there are 46,531 ponds in the State.
Explaining the circumstances that led to implementation of Mission Kakatiya, the official said in the past, 255 tmc of water was allocated for minor irrigation in the State to provide water to 25 lakh acres of land, but only nine to 10 lakh acres could be irrigated while the remaining 15 lakh acres were not getting water.
Due to accumulation of silt in ponds, reduced water holding capacity, dilapidated culverts, weakening of pond embankments, non-functioning feeder channels and lack of repairs to drains, ponds and small water bodies, water was not provided as expected. Due to lack of proper maintenance for many years, silt had accumulated.
Taking all these factors into consideration, the State government decided to take up Mission Kakatiya in 2015 to restore ponds in a phased manner. It decided to restore 20 per cent of the ponds every year, thereby rejuvenating all the ponds in the State within five years. Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated Mission Kakatiya on March 12, 2015.
The five-year long Mission Kakatiya resulted in rehabilitation of 27,665 ponds that facilitated irrigation of 15 lakh acres with 8. 93 tmc of water storage capacity restored. The government has so far spent Rs. 5,309 crore on the programme.
Strengthening of embankments of ponds under the programme reduced erosion resulting in groundwater levels going up to 4. 14 meters. Because of Mission Kakatiya, all the ponds in villages were filled with water and in fact, last monsoon, officials were forced to lift gates of the majority of water bodies following excess inflows, the official said.
Benefits of Mission Kakatiya
• The removal of silt has improved groundwater recharge capacity. As a result, the water capacity of ponds has also increased
• Utilization of silt as manure reduced use of fertilizers
• The yield of crops like cotton and chilli among others increased by 20 per cent to 30 per cent. The yield of paddy increased by 19. 60 per cent
• Farmers collected 2,721 lakh cubic meters of silt and saved Rs 1,088 crore to the government
• Reduced natural water scarcity during summer
• Over 27 crore of fish seeds were released in 3,939 ponds resulting in an increase of 85 thousand tonnes of fish
• Fertilizer use has been reduced from 50 to 35 percent due to use of silt as manure.