C.R. Gowri Shanker
Dec 24, 2012 Hyderabad: It was a year of too little rain and then too much; of drought and of the Nilam toofan; of parched fields and inundation of homes and properties. And in the end, not enough water to fill the state’s reservoirs.
November 1 was deadly for AP, when Cyclone Nilam surprised the state to devastating effect. Before the cyclone, the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions had passed through a drought, which delayed agriculture operations and reduced the area under cultivation. And though a normal monsoon advanced subsequently, the reservoirs were still short of water.
Cyclone Nilam caused immense damage in 12 districts, with Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari bearing the brunt of the floods. It left behind a trail of death and destruction. The year also marked the first time that the Met department came under fire from the AP government for its failure to predict the cyclone hitting the state.
The department had predicted the cyclone would hit Tamil Nadu, but instead it targeted AP — winding its way up the North Coastal AP, bringing copious quantities of rain and catching the government on the back foot.
Revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy went public: “IMD failed to predict the heavy downpour. We went by their prediction that Nilam won’t have adverse impact and in fact, may benefit farmers.” Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his ministers, busy with other programmes, rushed back to the capital to take stock of the damage.
Led by TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, the opposition lambasted the government for its failure to take precautionary steps and provide relief quickly. TD politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said, “The Centre should include AP in the list of drought-affected states and provide an immediate relief package.”
According to Vinod Kumar Ekbote, additional commissioner, disaster management, the total loss due to the cyclone is `3,566 crore. “In all, 61 persons died and floods caused by Nilam and 4.95 lakh hectares of crops were submerged.”
But Nilam was also a blessing of sorts. It provided the much-needed water for irrigation and drinking purposes in many places. Dried up tanks, rivulets and reservoirs and streams overflowed in Prakasam, Nellore, and Guntur. The damage also raised the issue of remodelling of the age-old system used to drain excess water out into rivers and the sea, which caused the inundation of crops and villages.
“The drainage system in East Godavari and West Godavari needs to be improved,” said minister Sridhar Babu after a visit.
On the whole, while rainfall appeared to be bountiful, many of the dams remained ironically empty because it did not rain sufficiently in the catchment areas upstream, in Karna-taka and Maharashtra. Krishna river received some water midstream due to rains, but much of it was downstream of major projects like Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam and had to be released into Bay of Bengal. The situation was the same in Godavari, which, however, does not have major dams.
Dec 24, 2012 Hyderabad: It was a year of too little rain and then too much; of drought and of the Nilam toofan; of parched fields and inundation of homes and properties. And in the end, not enough water to fill the state’s reservoirs.
November 1 was deadly for AP, when Cyclone Nilam surprised the state to devastating effect. Before the cyclone, the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions had passed through a drought, which delayed agriculture operations and reduced the area under cultivation. And though a normal monsoon advanced subsequently, the reservoirs were still short of water.
Cyclone Nilam caused immense damage in 12 districts, with Visakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari bearing the brunt of the floods. It left behind a trail of death and destruction. The year also marked the first time that the Met department came under fire from the AP government for its failure to predict the cyclone hitting the state.
The department had predicted the cyclone would hit Tamil Nadu, but instead it targeted AP — winding its way up the North Coastal AP, bringing copious quantities of rain and catching the government on the back foot.
Revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy went public: “IMD failed to predict the heavy downpour. We went by their prediction that Nilam won’t have adverse impact and in fact, may benefit farmers.” Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and his ministers, busy with other programmes, rushed back to the capital to take stock of the damage.
Led by TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, the opposition lambasted the government for its failure to take precautionary steps and provide relief quickly. TD politburo member Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said, “The Centre should include AP in the list of drought-affected states and provide an immediate relief package.”
According to Vinod Kumar Ekbote, additional commissioner, disaster management, the total loss due to the cyclone is `3,566 crore. “In all, 61 persons died and floods caused by Nilam and 4.95 lakh hectares of crops were submerged.”
But Nilam was also a blessing of sorts. It provided the much-needed water for irrigation and drinking purposes in many places. Dried up tanks, rivulets and reservoirs and streams overflowed in Prakasam, Nellore, and Guntur. The damage also raised the issue of remodelling of the age-old system used to drain excess water out into rivers and the sea, which caused the inundation of crops and villages.
“The drainage system in East Godavari and West Godavari needs to be improved,” said minister Sridhar Babu after a visit.
On the whole, while rainfall appeared to be bountiful, many of the dams remained ironically empty because it did not rain sufficiently in the catchment areas upstream, in Karna-taka and Maharashtra. Krishna river received some water midstream due to rains, but much of it was downstream of major projects like Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam and had to be released into Bay of Bengal. The situation was the same in Godavari, which, however, does not have major dams.
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