Hyderabad: With a water crisis looming large over Telangana State, the government has taken up a summer contingency plan to ensure drinking water to nine districts, especially where the groundwater levels have plummeted.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao sanctioned Rs 263 crore and promised to release more funds to meet the drinking water requirements of people in all districts. The GHMC takes care of drinking water needs of Hyderabad. The government also released Rs 485 crore as interest free loans to 40 lakh DWCRA women.

“We studied the situation over the last 45 days and got feedback from nine districts. There is water problem in areas where borewells have gone dry. The water table has also dipped at several places. We have released contingency plan to ensure drinking water to people,” Mr K.T. Rama Rao, minister for panchayat raj and information technology said.

Explaining the state’s multi-pronged approach to meet drinking water scarcity, he said borewells were dug up and repairs undertaken on dried up borewells across the state apart from pressing water tankers into service where there was no water.

“RWS engineers conducted survey in all the villages from February 1 to March 15 and assessed water needs of villages. Based on the requirement, action was initiated to provide drinking water,” he said.

He denied any move to declare some severely affected mandals as drought-hit. “We felt that it’s of no use to declare a mandal as drought-hit. We don’t expect Central funds immediately. We are taking up relief measures on our own,” he added.

The state government sanctioned Rs 36.40 crore for Mahbubnagar followed by Medak Rs 33.49 crore, Adilabad Rs 33.38 crore, Nalgonda Rs 31.98 crore, Karimnagar Rs 31.22 crore, Ranga Reddy Rs 28.16 crore, Warangal Rs 26 crore, Khammam Rs 23. 82 crore and Nizamabad Rs 18.55 crore to meet the drinking water needs of the respective districts.

The Chief Minister also instructed all legislators and other public representatives to inform concerned authorities wherever there is severe drinking water crisis and take up relief measures on war footing.