Of the 1,287 villages in the Kalaburagi district, 156 are likely to face water scarcity this summer.
As per data provided by the Chief Executive officer of Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat, Dileesh Sasi, around 43 villages in Aland taluk are likely to face water scarcity during peak summer.
In Kalaburagi taluk, 38 villages are likely to face scarcity, followed by Chincholli taluk with 24 villages, and Afzalpur taluk with 21 villages.
As many as 13 villages in Jewargi taluk, 11 villages in Cittapur, and six villages in Sedam taluk would also face scarcity.
In an attempt to mitigate portable water scarcity, the district administration has identified many private borewells in each taluk. If required, the administration will rope in tankers to supply water to worst-affected villages, officials said.
The severe drought situation witnessed for four consecutive years (from 2016 to 2019) in Kalaburagi district had directly affected groundwater levels. However, the district received (64% excess rain) post-monsoon rain between October and December last year; this helped boost availability of water for the summer season to some extent.
During 2016-17 and 2017-18, the district faced severe drought conditions. Of the total 1,287 villages, 922 had been declared drought hit. In 2019-20, around 780 villages had drinking water crisis.
As per sources, officials have not made any action plan for the retrieval and hydrofracturing of borewells, repairs, and drilling of new borewells.
