Drought grips 32 Nagpur villages; Zilla Parishad to supply water on alternate days

The drought crisis is deepening by the day across the 13 talukas of Nagpur district. So far, 32 villages have been hit by water scarcity. Anticipating that the drought could worsen, the Zilla Parishad administration has begun planning to conserve the available water stocks.

As part of this, gram panchayats will be directed to supply water to villages on alternate days. Orders in this regard will be issued soon. Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Vinayak Mahamuni gave this information.

The situation is feared to worsen in the coming days. The administration will therefore instruct panchayat samitis and gram panchayats to be ready to implement the decision immediately.

Mahamuni said the Zilla Parishad administration is planning several measures to deal with the drought. The emphasis will be on conserving the available water stocks, water harvesting, and the availability and conservation of fodder for livestock.

To keep effective control over the drought situation, a separate war room will be set up at the Zilla Parishad in the coming days. It will be used to plan the measures needed to tackle the drought and to monitor their implementation.

Work on building Vanrai bunds will also be taken up on a large scale to increase water storage. Priority will be given to building Vanrai bunds on rivers, streams and seasonal drains where the water flow is high. A meeting of all block development officers (BDOs) has been scheduled for October 16 in this connection.

All departments concerned have also been instructed to prepare and submit standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the necessary measures and schemes to deal with the drought.

Speaking to reporters, CEO Mahamuni appealed to gram panchayats to use water carefully and to plan properly to prevent its wastage.