District Collector Kona Sasidhar said that over 25,000 farm ponds, constructed in the district under the ‘Panta Sanjeevani’ programme of the State government, were filled with water to the brim due to the widespread rains received on Saturday.
Mr Sasidhar, who visited farm ponds at Kotanka village of the Garladinne mandal of the district, said that the government’s vision of ensuring that every drop of rainwater was captured and stored for the use of farmers in the district was bearing fruit.
“As planned, all the one lakh farm ponds will be completed as early as possible as the government has already sanctioned Rs. 600 crore for the same, making funding a certainty,” said Mr Sasidhar even as he added that several thousands of farm ponds were in various stages of construction in the district besides the 25,000 already completed. Mr Sasidhar also interacted with farmers in the Kotanka village who were happy as ponds received water.
Meanwhile, 62 of the 63 mandals in the Anantapur district received widespread rain coupled with strong winds on Saturday night, helping the farmers in their pre-sowing preparations.In all, the district received a total of 2,469.5 mm of rainfall across 62 mandals.While the Kanaganapalli mandal received the highest amount of rainfall at 100.3 mm, the Anantapur mandal received 89.9 mm followed by Vidapanakal mandal at 81.9 mm and Guntakal at 80 mm.
With the heavy downpour in the Anantapur mandal, including Anantapur town in a matter of just a few hours, the Pandameru rivulet received its first inflows and could be seen in a spate on the outskirts of the town filling up several checkdams and other water conservation structures.
Underground parking areas in several houses were inundated in Anantapur due to the sudden burst of rain.
