Chandrababu Naidu holds teleconference with 14,000 officials

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today held a teleconference with about 14,000 officials on linking of Godavari and Krishna rivers and other water-related issues.

A teleconference of this scale is a record, an official release claimed.

The river linkage --the work of which is underway--would be useful for making the parched Rayalaseema region drought-proof and will solve the water woes of the state, the release quoted Naidu as saying.

"Divert rain water to borewells which have dried up over the years and recharge groundwater," he said.

Naidu also asked the officials to expedite repair of disused or damaged wells, tanks and borewells, etc., on a war-footing.

The people should be made partners in making the government's flagship 'Neeru-Chettu' (water-tree) programme a success, the Chief Minister said.

The Water Resources Department should monitor water levels in all the reservoirs, tanks, canals and other water bodies and update the data online, he said.

"Fix sensors in all the water bodies so that we obtain real-time information on the water availability village-wise, mandal-wise and district-wise. This way we can calculate our usage and manage water effectively," he said.

The department can also monitor the rainfall in each zone and compare the data with the predicted rainfall which would help in flood management, the Chief Minister said.

Directing the Water Resources department to install piezometers (which measure water pressure) and update the online data on water levels in two months, he also asked them to geo-tag borewells, tanks, canals and all water bodies.

He also asked the officials to focus on recharging tanks and borewells which are categorised as over-exploited,critical and semi-critical.