PNS|Vijayawada
Minister for Water Resources Ambati Rambabu inaugurated the NTR District Ground Water and Water Audit Data Centre at Pezzonipet in Vijayawada on Wednesday. The multi-storey data centre was constructed spending Rs.2.10 crore with the funding of the National Hydrology Project and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that Rs.69.84 crore was allotted with the support of the National Hydrology Project and the Ministry of Jal Shakti for the construction of data centres and for providing technical equipment in the State. Apart from Vijayawada, Eluru and Chittoor data centres, the State-level data centre would be constructed in Visakhapatnam spending Rs.16.50 crore. Works on the Chittoor district data centre and the State-level data centre in Visakhapatnam are progressing, he said.
He further said the Ground Water Department arranged Inductive Coupled Plasma equipment in the Vijayawada Ground Water Data Centre to test the availability and quality of water and for that, the government spent Rs.1 crore. “These data centres will play a key role in explaining to the farmers which crop will be suitable in a certain land by testing the availability and quality of groundwater,” he added.
“The centres will be useful in identifying groundwater availability in different areas in the State after collecting soils from various mandals. These centres will suggest taking alternative steps wherever the groundwater levels are decreasing. After examination, the data will be sent to the Chief Minister’s Dashboard as well as the State and district administrative departments,” he said.
He said that based on the data centre’s reports, groundwater levels would be estimated in various parts of the State. Every year in May and November, that is before and after rains, groundwater is collected and examined to find out whether it is suitable for agriculture or not,” he added.
He said around 40 lakh acres of ayacut depended upon groundwater and the farmers were facing severe problems after cultivating crops due to its scarcity. Once the data centres come into existence, the Agriculture and Groundwater Department officials would suggest to the farmers which areas will be suitable to cultivate crops after examining the water level, he said.
Further, he said due to the excess rainfall, the water storage capacity of various reservoirs increased, besides the groundwater levels. Data centres would assist the farmers by using the stored water for cultivating crops, he added.
Former minister and Vijayawada West MLA Velampalli Srinivasa Rao, Mayor Rayana Bhagyalakshmi, NTR District Collector Dr S Dilli Rao, Water Resources Department Engineer-In-Chief R Satish Kumar, Joint Secretary S Koteswaramma, Superintending Engineer Sesham Tirumala Rao, Krishna Central Division Executive Engineer PVR Krishna Rao, Water Audit Department Joint Director N Srinivasa Rao, Inter-State Water Resources Chief Engineer K Srinivasa Rao, CADA State Project Director PS Raghavaiah, Director M John Satya Raju, Groundwater Department Officer B Naga Raju and Corporator B Manamma were present.
