BJP leader suggests technical cell, water dashboard to tackle El Nino impact

Senior BJP leader Gudur Narayana Reddy on Saturday proposed a three-point action plan to help Telangana address water, agricultural and power challenges arising from El Niño conditions, stressing the need for coordination among the government, experts, farmers and local communities.

Mr. Reddy said the government’s focus on safeguarding drinking water supplies and preparing for difficult conditions in the coming months was appropriate. He said the emphasis should now be on translating policy directions into localised, measurable and publicly accessible action.

He proposed setting up a small, time-bound technical cell comprising officials from the Irrigation, Groundwater and Agriculture departments, along with independent hydrologists and agronomists from agricultural universities, research institutions and ICAR institutes to coordinate measures and address emerging challenges.

His second suggestion was to expedite community-level groundwater recharge and water conservation works in the most water-stressed mandals. Desilting tanks and check dams, developing farm ponds and creating percolation pits should be prioritised before peak summer, he said.

As a third measure, Mr. Reddy proposed a public monitoring dashboard that tracks three key indicators: reservoir releases, the movement of drinking water tankers, and the number of hours of electricity supply to agricultural feeders.