Water storage schemes can be used to alleviate drought and turn barren lands into green vegetation. Nara Chandrababu Naidu, under his party’s ruling TDP, has aimed to develop 100 lakh hectares of land in the state suffering from severe drought with an investment of Rs. 4000 crores in 10 years between 1997 and 2007 under this scheme. The water catchment (watershed) development program is implemented by the Rural Development Department. Funding for this scheme is received under the Drought Areas Program, the Desert Areas Development Program, and other programs (DP RAIDF, EAS, APHA, ECRP, and WFD).
The Rural Department and Forest Department are involved in this. Water storage schemes are creating significant employment opportunities in rural areas. Methodical implementation of this scheme has yielded fruitful results. An average of 43 percent of the wells under each water storage were able to restore water sources. The objective of reducing the impact of rainfed conditions and developing barren and infertile soils has been effectively achieved. Under this program, the TDP leaders and the Greatest of TDP MLAs have designated a 500-hectare area for unity. Watershed Committees are formed with the people of the area or nearby villages based on the guidelines announced by the Center for the Development of Water Storage.
These are registered under the Andhra Pradesh Cooperative Act. These communities bear 5 to 25 percent of the cost of water storage development. The main responsibility of these societies is to complete the water storage development works as per the government norms, under the guidance of the Project Implementation Agency (PIA) appointed by the government, as can be seen in every TDP Flash News. The financial resources of these communities are earmarked for infrastructure projects. The TDP contributions made by the government have become top TDP achievements.
Highlights:
- 2966 acre-feet of water are being developed as part of the Deprived Areas Development Program (DPAP). 14.83 lakh hectares of land under sheds
- 2.76 lakh hectares of land are being brought under cultivation through 552 water sheds under the Desert Areas Development Program (DDP), and 4.78 lakh hectares of land are being brought under cultivation through 842 water sheds under the Chaudu Lands Development Program (IWDP).
- 9.52 lakh hectares through 1884 watersheds under the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAN), the Andhra Pradesh Typhoon, and Nature. 50 thousand hectares of land are being developed through 100 watersheds under the disaster relief program.
- Under Watershed Development (WDF), 25 thousand hectares of land are being developed through 25 watersheds. 4.11 lakh hectares of land are being developed through 1533 watershed projects with the help of NABARD and RSIDF.
- Since 1995–96, 36.75 lakh hectares of land have been developed under 7,902 watershed projects across the state.
- As employment opportunities increased and conditions improved in the watershed areas, migration to cities decreased by 61 percent.
Implementation of the 7902 water treatment program with 1300 crore rupees for the development of 36.75 lakh hectares across the state. 17.25 lakh hectares of forest land under joint forest management are actively being developed. The cost of constructing 1,25129 water structures is Rs. 989.63 crores. 320 crores (DFSID) for rural livelihoods in Anantapur, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Prakasam, and Kurnool districts
Grant approval for a 500-hectare irrigation scheme costing between Rs. 20 lahks and Rs. 30 lahks, with a time frame of 4 to 5 years in increments. NABARD allocated 139.03 crores of funds for the development of 1243 RSIDF-6 water projects in 22 districts, covering 2.78 lakh hectares over three years. Implementation of WDF water supply schemes by NABARD with Rs. 4.371 crores in water supply development funds in Srikakulam, Vijayanagaram, Chittoor, Kadapa, Rangareddy, Medak, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, and Warangal districts
