Ananthapuramu, AP

Under Rural Water Supply & Sanitation, the district-level implementing agency approved the programme on Community Water Treatment Plant. A total of 35 habitations were taken up and 31 habitations are getting purified drinking water 24×7. It is helping prevent the health hazard from the consumption of contaminated water.

In another intervention called Handri Neeva Sujara Sravanthi (HNSS), efficient use of water for irrigation is encouraged. Under the project, in 2020-21, about 27.97 TMC water is supplied to tanks in two phases. It enabled the recharging of the water table in nearby areas and borewells. Out of 14 constituencies, 11 benefitted, which were drought prone. Four reservoirs, namely, Jeedipalli, Gollapalli, Marala and Cherlopalli were also filled to nearly full capacity this year. Importantly, the project is monitored by forming teams of engineers, volunteers and police personnel to prevent pilferage and wastage of water. This is a major lift irrigation project to lift 40 TMC of water from the foreshore of Srisailam Reservoir on river Krishna, to feed tanks and reservoirs and to cater to the irrigation and drinking water needs of villages en route the canal, besides groundwater recharge. The target of filling about 141 irrigation tanks, besides storing water in targeted four reservoirs has been achieved.

For further water conservation, the district launched the Integrated Water Management Programme alongside MGNREGS. On a war footing 40,196 water conservation works – farm/dugout ponds, staggered trenches, percolation/mini percolation tanks, check dams and desilting of drinking water tanks – were completed in 2020. This has changed the water landscape of the district and improved groundwater levels, by conserving every drop of water. The groundwater level improved from 23 meters in May 2020 to 10 mts in November 2020.

A total of 1,46,672 farm ponds have been completed by the end of 2021.

Project YSR Nethanna Nestham is targeting at handloom weavers and has benefitted more than 21,000 weavers in the district. This is a financial assistance scheme in which Rs 24,000 is directly credited (DBT) into the bank account of a weaver family as working capital for modernising their equipment. With the benefit of the scheme, they can procure quality accessories like Dobby and Jacquard, produce better and value-added sarees and other products and are earning around Rs 12,000/- to 15,000/- per month, up from about Rs 8,000 earlier.

Hindupur Municipality was mainly dependent on groundwater and water availability through tankers making about 500 trips a day costing dearly to the exchequer. The comprehensive water supply improvement scheme with Gollapalli reservoir as a source was proposed under AMRUT Scheme and the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2017. Hindupur Municipality used to supply 3 to 4 MLD of water @ 30 to 40 lpcd through bore wells, tankers and water supply before the deployment of the scheme. After completion of the Scheme, the municipality is supplying 18 to 20 MLD of water @ 110 to 120 lpcd continuously to the Hindupur town.

Before the inception of Jagananna Vidya Deevena & Jagananna Vasathi Deevena (JVD), students were entitled to receive fixed-fee reimbursement not on part with their course fee structure and a nominal scholarship. Under JVD, the income ceiling is slightly altered and irrespective of caste students whose family income is below Rs 2.5 lakhs are entitled to receive complete fee reimbursement and a scholarship of up to Rs 20,000/- per annum. Under the old scheme, in 2018-19, 80,673 students benefitted and after the launch of JVD, in 2019-20, 120,167 student got the benefit. The objective is to ensure that no student drops abruptly from the college due to poor financial conditions. During the 2020-21 academic year, nearly Rs 200 crore has been disbursed under JVD