ANDHRA PRADESH-Drought Worsening Situation


ANDHRA PRADESH Drought: Worsening Situation K llaiah ANDHRA PRADESH is divided into three geographical regions, namely, Telangana, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra, which broadly also expresses the economic division of the state. Telangana is a semi-dry region which consists completely of dry districts like Mahbubnagar, Warangal, Medak, Adilabad and Ranga Reddy and Semi- irrigated districts like Nizamabad, Karim- nagar, and Khammam. Nizamsagar, Sri- ramasagar, Nagarjunasagar Left Canal provide water to parts of these semi-irrigated districts. Though two talukas of Nalgonda (Miryalaguda and Kodad) are irrigated by the Nagarjunasagar Left Canal the rest of the district is perennially drought prone, next after Mahbubnagar. The entire Rayalaseema excluding Kurnool and two talukas of Cuddapah (irrigated by the K C Canal) is completely dry and is dependent on rainfall. In coastal Andhra the two Godavari districts, Krishna and Guntur and parts of Nellore and Prakasham are irrigated. The three North-east districts namely, Vishakhapatnam, Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam are semi-arid zones. In a nutshell, Telangana is semi-dry but basically dependent on rainfall. Rayalaseema is a completely dry area and totally depends on the vagaries of the monsoon. Coastal Andhra is relatively better irrigated and rich. The Rayalaseema region was declared as a drought-affected region in the years 1958 to 1962, 1965 to 1985. Between 1900 and 1959 Ananthapur