Water crisis grips villages in Kanchikacherla, Nandigama mandals

People in Keesara, Vemulapalli, Nandigama and other villages around Kanchikacherla mandal in NTR district have been grappling with a severe drinking water crisis for the past five months, which as per villagers and activists, is mainly due to indiscriminate drawing of groundwater by an ethanol factory

People in Keesara, Vemulapalli, Nandigama and other villages around Kanchikacherla mandal in NTR district have been grappling with a severe drinking water crisis for the past five months, which as per villagers and activists, is mainly due to indiscriminate drawing of groundwater by an ethanol factory.

This is the first time in 10 years that water in the Munneru, a tributary of Krishna river, near Keesara, dried up. This forced the ethanol factory, Sentini BioProducts Private Limited, located at Gandepalli village in Kanchikacherla mandal to depend on groundwater, said Srinivas Reddy, a farmer. His field had taken a hit due to the indiscriminate drawing of water by the factory through one of its borewells located close to his field.

While the water in the Munneru dried up only in December, the crisis began in February. “Since then, we have been trying to supply water to the people of Kanchikacherla mandal and Nandigama town free of charge through tankers. Everyday, 10 tankers, each carrying 5,000 litres, make as many trips as required. We have spent nearly ₹15 lakh so far on this,” said Velpula Ramesh, spouse of a Zilla Parishad Territorial Committee (ZPTC) member. With insufficient rain in June, they fear the crisis will only worsen if not addressed immediately.

He explained that the panchayat pump-houses in Ithavaram village in Nandigama mandal are just 500 metres away from Raghavapuram village, where the factory has its borewells set up. “Since the factory is running its motors 24/7, the groundwater is decreasing here. As a result, there is not enough water to be drawn from the panchayat pump-houses, upon which 15 villages in Kanchikacherla mandal and Nandigama town are dependent for their drinking water needs,” he said.

While Nandigama has a population of 50,000, the Kanchikacherla mandal’s population is close to a lakh. “The factory needs 25 litres of water to make one liquor bottle, and 4,000 litres of liquor is manufactured every day. You can imagine how much water is gone into manufacturing this,” he said, adding that he had earlier written a letter to NTR District Collector to look into the issue.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Forum (HRF) State secretary G. Rohith said the factory had also tried to defraud the groundwater department by giving wrong survey numbers in the application seeking permission to draw groundwater.

Quoting a report from the District Groundwater Office, dated June 6, 2024, Mr. Rohith said, “The factory’s application, sent on March 29, was rejected because there was a discrepancy in the survey numbers. While they wished to draw water from Raghavapuram, they showed survey numbers of their own factory premises.”