Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has directed the officials to work on scientific lines to improve the groundwater table and to bring it up to eight metres in the first phase. The average ground water level in the State stands at present at 12 metres.
Mr. Naidu, who reviewed the Neeru –Chettu programme here on Saturday with various departments, said in the next four years the water level should be brought to three metres to eight metres.
The Andhra Pradesh Water, Land and Trees Act (APWALTA-2002) could be amended to set the maximum ground water level limit at eight metres once Neeru-Chettu objectives were achieved in Phase-I, he said.
The first priority under the programme should be to repair and restore tanks, major, minor and medium irrigation systems and water harvesting structures by end of May, he said.
Emphasising that the programme should be taken up in a participative mode by involving schools, colleges and universities, he said a water report should be given out with details of the ground water levels in each village and the colleges could be asked to hold debates on how to better the levels. The debates could be held from May 1 to 10, he said.
Mr. Adityanath Das, Principal Secretary, Irrigation, informed the Chief Minister that the 40 major and medium irrigation projects would be completed in the next four years and measures were being taken to conduct water audits and promote sustainable use.
An ayacut of 2.5 lakh acres would be created for this Kharif season, he said while a target was set to creating ayacut of 25.6 lakh acres by 2019. A.K.Parida, Special Chief Secretary, Forest said that contour trenching in five lakh hectares of Seshachalam forest area with red sanders trees was being taken up and it would be completed by June-end and every tree would be geo-tagged in the area.
