El Nino cuts Nagpur rain by 36%; 117 villages placed in critical zone, Zilla Parishad draws up plan

Nagpur district has received 36 per cent less rain than average this time because of El Nino. The effect is now showing up as water scarcity, and 117 villages in the district have been placed in the critical zone.

It is said that if steps are not taken in time, these villages could be hit by a severe water crisis. Keeping this in view, Zilla Parishad CEO Vinayak Mahamuni has prepared an action plan for them.

Under the plan, a committee of six officials has been formed, which will work under Mahamuni's chairmanship. The committee will visit the villages concerned and find out the causes of the water shortage. The effort will be to find permanent solutions instead of supplying water temporarily by tanker and similar means.

The committee will make direct visits to the villages in the critical zone. It will review in detail the state of water scarcity there, the available water sources, groundwater levels and problems in water supply. The Zilla Parishad will focus on long-term measures that raise the availability of water in villages, rather than depending only on tankers or other temporary arrangements.

In this connection, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Ashok Ghonge, executive engineer of the water supply department. All block development officers and deputy engineers were present.

In the first phase, the committee's officials will visit the critical-zone villages of Ramtek tehsil. During this, the available sources of drinking water, the condition of wells, groundwater levels, problems linked to water supply and future water requirements will be studied.

Based on the problems that emerge on the spot, separate measures will be prepared for each village. To bring the villages out of the critical zone, priority will be given to measures such as water conservation, increased water storage and effective management of existing water sources. Once the committee's report is received, the plan is to put these measures into effect accordingly.