Nalgonda These Images Shame  #Telangana Officers, Emergency Water Supplies Ordered

Shamed by the images of women, young and old, walking several kilometres in 42-degree heat to get water, government officials in Nalgonda district, one of the regions utterly scorched by drought in Telangana, are trying to make amends.

Four days after NDTV reported that many women including Aruna, four months pregnant, were carrying 20 kilos of water in steel pots on their heads, the village sarpanch, Balaraju, said a borewell that is much more accessible is being rented from a local  farmer. Pipes have been brought in by government officials to supply the water to the women within the village of Peddadayyam Thanda.

Jalandhar Reddy, a senior administrator, told NDTV that the farmer whose borewell is needed has been offered Rs 5,000 but is proving to be a tough customer. “e have powers to seize the private borewell too  in public interest. The village gram panchayat is already open to paying some extra amount over and above the government’s offer.”

Officials have promised water within the village for the women in the next couple of days.

Telangana is under siege for the third year in a row by drought.  An above-normal monsoon has been predicted for the rest of the country, but not Telangana.   Farmers say that after years of being let down by the  rain, they’ll believe it only when they see it . reports by ndtv,