CENTRAL GROUND WATER BOARD

MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

GROUND WATER INFORMATION

ANANTAPUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

SOUTHERN REGION
HYDERABAD
JULY, 2007

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 CENTRAL GROUND WATER BOARD
MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

GROUND WATER INFORMATION

ANANTAPUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

SOUTHERN REGION BHUJAL BHAWAN,

GSI Post, Bandlaguda NH.IV, FARIDABAD-121001
Hyderabad-500068 HARYANA, INDIA
Andhra Pradesh TEL: 0129-2418518
Tel: 24222508 Gram: Bhumijal
Gram: Antarjal

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 GROUND WATER INFORMATION
ANANTAPUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

BY
M.V. GOPAL
SCIENTIST-B

CONTENTS

CONTRIBUTORS’ PAGE
DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Distress situation
1.2. Drainage
1.3. Irrigation
1.4. Previous work by CGWB

2.0 RAINFALL

3.0 GROUND WATER SCENARIO

3.1 Hydrogeology
3.1.1 Ground water in Archaean crystalline rocks
3.1.2 Ground water in Cuddapah and Kurnool formations

3.1.3 Ground water in Alluvium

3.1.4 Shallow Aquifers
3.1.5 Deeper Aquifers
3.1.6 Aquifer parameters
3.2 Depth to water level
3.2.1 Pre-monsoon
3.2.2 Post-monsoon
3.2.3 Water level fluctuation
3.2.4 Long term water levels
3.3 Ground water resources
3.4 Ground water quality
3.4.1 Shallow ground water
3.4.2 Deep ground water
3.5 Status of Ground Water Development
3.5.1. Well density

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4.0 GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
4.1 Ground Water Development
4.2 Artificial Recharge

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

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 CONTRIBUTORS

GROUND WATER INFORMATION

ANANTAPUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

Principal Author

M.V.Gopal
Scientist-B

Hydrometeorology & Map Generation

P.Sudhakar, Scientist-B
D.V.Anjaneyulu, Asst.Hydrometeorologist
B.Sarath, Draughtsman (Grade-II)

Scrutiny

B.Jaya Kumar, Suptdg.Hydrogeologist

G.Sudarshan, Scientist-D

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 DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

1. GENERAL
Location North Latitude 13o 40' 16o
15'
East Longitude 70o 50' 78o
38'
Geographical area (sq.km) 19,197
Headquarters Anantapur
No. of revenue mandals 63
No. of revenue villages 964
Population (2001) Urban 9,19,563
Rural 27,20,915
Total 36,40,478
Population density (persons/sq.km) 190
Work force
Cultivators 4,88,056
Agricultural labour 4,62,292

Major rivers Pennar, Papagni

Maddileru, Tadikaluru
Naravanka

Soils Red sandy soil,

mixed red and black soil
Agroclimatic zone Scarce Rainfall zone
and South Coastal zone

2. RAINFALL
Normal annual rainfall Total 553 mm
Southwest monsoon 337 mm
Northeast monsoon 156 mm
Cumulative departure from
normal rainfall for the last 5 years -37%
3. LAND USE (2005-'06) (Area in ha.)

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 Forest 19700
Barren and uncultivated 19700
Cultivable waste 50000
Current fallows 32000
Net area sown 1105000
4. IRRIGATION (2005-'06) (Area in ha.)
Source of irrigation
Canals 30000
Tanks 8000
Dug wells 17000
Bore / Tube wells 96000
Others 3000
Net area irrigated 125000
Gross area irrigated 15400
Major irrigation projects Tungabhadra
High level canal
Medium irrigation proejcts 1-Upper Pennar
2-Bhairavarithippa
3-Chinnarayaswamy
4-Pennar Kumbdavati
5-Yogi Vemana

5. GEOLOGY
Major rock types Granites, gneisses
quartzites, shales,
slates & limestones
6. GROUND WATER
Well census (2005-'06)
Dug wells 52,937
Shallow tube / bore wells 33964
Deep tube / bore wells 561
Total 87462
Exploration by CGWB
No. of wells drilled 108

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 Major aquifer zones 8-132.5 m
Aquifer parametres
Transmissivity (sq.m/day) Hard rock 0.5 to 316 sq.m/day
Soft rock
Storage Co-efficient Hard rock 7.4 x 10 -4 to 9.4x10-3
Soft rock
Monitoring
No. of observation wells 121
Dug wells 86
Piezometers 35
Range of water levels (May 2005)
Minimum (m below ground level) 2.53
Maximum ( m bgl) 19.67
General range ( m bgl) 4-16 m

7. GROUND WATER RESOURCES (MCM)

Net annual ground water availability 1443.25
Net annual draft 1091.91
Balance resource 357.35
Stage of ground water development 76% (semi critical)

8. GROUND WATER DEVELOPMENT CATEGORY

No. of mandals categorised as
Semi Critical (70 - 90 %) 9
Critical (90 - 100 %) 12
Over exploited (> 100 %) 28
No. of villages notified for restricted development 200
(by State Ground Water Authority)

9. CHEMICAL QUALITY
Electrical Conductivity (micro Siemens / cm at 25 deg. C) 425-2250
Chloride (mg/l) 18-567
Fluoride (mg/l) 0.5-2.5
Nitrate (mg/l) 1.8-155

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 GROUND WATER INFORMATION
ANANTAPUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH

1.0 INTRODUCTION
Anantapur district is one of the four districts of Rayalaseema Region and the
largest among the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh. The district is economically
backward and chronically drought affected. The district has three revenue divisions,
63 mandals and 932 revenue villages and 7 municipalities. The district lies between
North latitudes 13° 14¢ and 15° 14¢ and between East longitudes 76° 47¢ and 78° 26¢.
The district occupies the southern part of the State and is bounded on the north by
Bellary district of Karnataka State and Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, on the
East by Cuddapah and Chittoor districts of Andhra Pradesh and on the South and
West by Karnataka State (Fig.1). The geographical area of the district is 19,197
sq.km with a population of 36.39 lakhs. The population density, which was 54
persons per sq.km during 1901, has risen to 190 persons per sq.km as per 2001
census. This has led to stress on available land and the size of land holdings has
decreased considerably.

1.1 Distress situation

Economic viability of Agriculture has become precarious due to small land
holdings, increase in input costs, market fluctuation for Agriculture produce,
dependency of farmers on loans for Agricultural inputs. All these factors coupled with
scanty annual rainfall and failure of monsoons since 1997 onwards have pushed the
farmers into a distress situation and finally led to their suicidal deaths. The suicides
are reported from the entire district except few mandals viz., Hindupur, Lepakshi and
Chilamattur, irrespective of whether the mandal is falling in command area or non-
command areas, low or high ground water development. So far, 118 farmers have
committed suicides in the district. Majority of the farmers deaths are due to social
and economic causes. In some cases, farmers are going for more number of
boreholes in 3 to 5 acres of land for ground water by taking loans without any
technical advice.

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1.2 Drainage
The district forms part of Pennar and Krishna basins. The district is mainly
drained by Pennar and Vedavati rivers. Nearly, 80% of the district is drained by the
river the river Pennar and its tributaries like Chitravati, Papagni, Maddileru,
Tadakaluru, Maravanka. The Pennar river enters the southern part of the district
from Karanaka State near chavlum village near Hindupur town. The Vedavati river
drains predominantly in the western part of district, which is a tributary to
Tungabhad ra. The entire district is divided into 90 minor basins.

1.3 Irrigation
The chief sources of Irrigation in the district are tanks, wells and canals. The
major irrigation project in the district is Tungabhad ra High level canal project Stage-
I&II with an ayacut of 51771 ha and six medium projects. Apart from these projects,
there are 5353 irrigation tanks and about 87,000 wells. The gross irrigation by
different sources is presented in Table-1. The gross irrigated area is 1,54,000 ha
and the net irrigated area is 1,25,000 ha in the district. Out of net area irrigated, 31
per cent is from surface water irrigation and 69 percent is from ground water
irrigation.

Table-1: Gross Area irrigated by different source-wise (in Ha)

Sl Source of 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005-
No Irrigation 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
1 Canals 32196 30539 20469 22621 26513 30000
2 Tanks 5833 10155 2182 1718 1125 8000
3 Tube wells & 88414 89183 101407 97545 98065 96000
Filter points
4 Other wells 44039 42731 31029 19318 14838 17000
5 Lift Irrigation 8 8 9 0 38 NA
6 Other sources 4785 4530 2089 608 1172 3000
7 Net area irrigated 142801 141396 28380 113179 112147 125000
8 Gross area 175275 177146 157185 141811 141751 154000
irrigated

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1.4 Geology
The district is underlain by various geological formations ranging in Age from
Archaean to Recent – Major part of the district is underlain by the Granites and
gneisses and schists of Archaean and Dharwar Supergroup. North eastern part of
the district is occupied by the quartzites, limestones, shales of Cuddapah and
Kurnool Group of rocks. Alluvium is restricted to Pennar, Vedavati and Papagni
rivers.

1.5 Previous work by CGWB

Central Ground Water Board has covered the entire district through
systematic hydrogeological surveys by March, 1987. Subsequent ly Reappraisal
Hydrogeological surveys were also carried out in about 15,500 sq.km in 1983-1991.
Ground water exploration in the district commenced under Vedavati River Basin
Project during 1975-80 and deep ground water exploration in 1982-83. During 2003-
2004, 8 Exploratory bore wells were drilled through outsourcing. In all, the Board
has drilled 108 Exploratory wells, 28 Observation wells and 35 piezometers. As part
of the ground water regime monitoring, 86 dug wells, 35 piezometer wells are being
monitored in regular basis, four times a year since 1969.

2.0 RAINFALL
The normal annual rainfall of the district is 553 mm, which ranges from 339
mm at Atmakur mandal to 703 mm at Bukkapatnam mandal. The annual rainfall
data of 63 mandals for the period 2000-05, along with its departure from normal is
given in Table-2. The district mean rainfall was 690 mm in 1998-99, 521 mm in
1999-2000, 631 mm in 2000-01, 658 mm in 2001-02, 290 mm in 2002-03, 523 mm
in 2003-04 and 434 mm in 2004-05. The district mean rainfall with its departure from
normal is depicted graphically in Fig.2. The figure indicates that the annual rainfall
was below normal by 6%, 48%, 5% and 22% in 1999-2000, 2002-03 and 2004-05,
respectively. The rainfall was above normal by 25%, 14% and 24% in 1998-99,
2000-01 and 2001-02, respectively.

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 Table 2.
MANDAL-WISE ANNUAL RAINFALL AND ITS DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL
ANANTAPUR DISTRICT
Rainfall(mm) Departure from Normal
S NO MANDAL NAME
CUMMULATIVE
NORMAL 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 REMARK
DEPARTURE

1 AGALI 601 501 481 258 407 503 -17% -20% -57% -32% -16% -142% Scanty

2 AMADAGUR 622 634 694 268 665 423 2% 12% -57% 7% -32% -68% Scanty

3 AMARAPURAM 546 865 495 216 495 401 58% -9% -60% -9% -26% -47% Deficit

4 ANANTAPUR 581 606 750 230 456 455 4% 29% -60% -22% -22% -70% Scanty

5 ATMAKUR 339 448 698 287 472 441 32% 106% -15% 39% 30% 192% Surplus

6 B.K. SAMUDRAM 544 761 321 498 409 40% -41% -8% -25% -34% Deficit

7 BATHALAPALLI 520 365 609 173 309 281 -30% 17% -67% -41% -46% -166% Scanty

8 BELUGUPPA 489 516 622 245 353 267 6% 27% -50% -28% -45% -90% Scanty

9 BOMMANAHAL 394 520 685 373 245 467 32% 74% -5% -38% 18% 81% Surplus

10 BRAHMASAMUDRAM 529 591 264 360 422 12% -50% -32% -20% -90% Scanty

11 BUKKAPAT NAM 703 623 1122 381 548 446 -11% 60% -46% -22% -37% -56% Deficit

12 C.K. PALLI 354 - 477 103 242 226 35% -71% -32% -36% -104% Scanty

13 CHILAMATHUR 514 647 696 285 670 514 26% 35% -45% 30% 0% 47% Excess

14 D. HIREH AL 409 524 504 510 276 429 28% 23% 25% -33% 5% 48% Excess

15 DHARMA VARAM 567 516 10 262 746 444 -9% -98% -54% 32% -22% -151% Scanty

16 GANDLAPENTA 594 793 777 272 779 480 34% 31% -54% 31% -19% 22% Excess

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17 GARLADINN E 568 394 698 258 480 398 -31% 23% -55% -16% -30% -108% Scanty

18 GOOTY 597 749 657 307 469 500 25% 10% -49% -21% -16% -51% Deficit

19 GORANTLA 595 602 835 235 631 513 1% 40% -60% 6% -14% -27% Deficit

20 GUDIBANDA 506 662 395 257 424 319 31% -22% -49% -16% -37% -94% Scanty

21 GUMMAGATTA 488 611 477 188 505 358 25% -2% -61% 3% -27% -62% Scanty

22 GUNTAKAL 515 631 708 389 675 503 23% 38% -25% 31% -2% 64% Surplus

23 HINDUPUR 667 908 747 308 616 691 36% 12% -54% -8% 4% -10% Normal

24 KADIRI 666 906 830 321 752 586 36% 25% -52% 13% -12% 10% Normal

25 KALYANDURG 544 - 707 256 515 495 30% -53% -5% -9% -37% Deficit

26 KAMBADUR 457 333 547 144 286 204 -27% 20% -68% -37% -55% -169% Scanty

27 KANAGANAPALLI 504 - 717 281 366 382 42% -44% -27% -24% -54% Deficit

28 KANEKA L 458 557 704 337 419 443 22% 54% -27% -8% -3% 37% Excess

29 KOTHACHERUVU 624 882 983 295 673 479 41% 58% -53% 8% -23% 31% Excess

30 KUDAIR 348 352 594 209 291 471 1% 71% -40% -16% 35% 51% Excess

31 KUNDURPI 495 607 621 347 405 267 23% 25% -30% -18% -46% -46% Deficit

32 LEPAKSHI 620 742 729 241 650 605 20% 18% -61% 5% -2% -21% Deficit

33 MADAKASIRA 607 841 815 388 400 412 39% 34% -36% -34% -32% -29% Deficit

34 MUDIGUBBA 693 758 911 389 662 576 9% 31% -44% -4% -17% -24% Deficit
35 N.P.KUNT A 612 587 722 455 677 315 -4% 18% -26% 11% -48% -50% Deficit
36 NALLACHERUVU 594 584 870 227 799 527 -2% 46% -62% 34% -11% 6% Normal
37 NALLAMADA 577 631 710 329 630 478 9% 23% -43% 9% -17% -19% Normal

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38 NARPALA 577 536 727 424 610 505 -7% 26% -27% 6% -12% -14% Normal
39 O.D.CHERUVU 607 523 745 252 599 385 -14% 23% -59% -1% -37% -88% Scanty
40 PAMIDI 464 543 753 256 320 421 17% 62% -45% -31% -9% -14% Normal
41 PARIGI 608 732 708 246 532 573 20% 16% -60% -13% -6% -41% Deficit
42 PEDDAPA PPUR 469 498 619 315 534 337 6% 32% -33% 14% -28% -9% Normal
43 PEDDAVADUG UR 419 868 789 396 503 557 107% 88% -5% 20% 33% 243% Surplus
44 PENUKONDA 678 778 778 232 686 447 15% 15% -66% 1% -34% -69% Scanty
45 PUTLUR 565 727 724 278 622 433 29% 28% -51% 10% -23% -7% Normal
46 PUTTAPARTHI 609 696 1002 265 656 475 14% 64% -56% 8% -22% 8% Normal
47 RAMAGIRI 536 437 592 211 506 512 -18% 10% -61% -6% -4% -79% Scanty
48 RAPTADU 533 566 793 242 563 425 6% 49% -55% 6% -20% -14% Normal
49 RAYADURG 529 479 776 306 371 450 -9% 47% -42% -30% -15% -50% Deficit
50 RODDAM 631 811 734 301 556 325 29% 16% -52% -12% -48% -68% Scanty
51 ROLLA 618 944 585 373 579 491 53% -5% -40% -6% -21% -19% Normal
52 SETTUR 480 413 582 301 347 540 -14% 21% -37% -28% 13% -45% Deficit
53 SINGANAMALA 546 660 563 276 362 351 21% 3% -49% -34% -36% -95% Scanty
54 SOMMANDEPALLI 635 884 714 228 650 375 39% 12% -64% 2% -41% -51% Deficit
55 TADIMARRI 469 358 443 137 413 334 -24% -6% -71% -12% -29% -141% Scanty
56 TADIPATRI 667 856 650 372 759 372 28% -3% -44% 14% -44% -49% Deficit
57 TALUPULA 636 801 802 396 649 601 26% 26% -38% 2% -6% 11% Normal
58 TANAKAL 612 622 694 432 805 469 2% 13% -29% 32% -23% -6% Normal
59 URAVAKO NDA 530 604 701 321 510 352 14% 32% -39% -4% -34% -31% Deficit
60 VAJRAKARUR 518 422 584 179 363 235 -19% 13% -65% -30% -55% -156% Scanty

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 61 VIDAPAN AKAL 574 - 615 340 476 336 7% -41% -17% -41% -92% Scanty
62 YADIKI 646 671 718 360 667 488 4% 11% -44% 3% -24% -51% Deficit
63 YELLANUR 632 624 786 239 492 396 -1% 24% -62% -22% -37% -98% Scanty

MEAN 553 631 685 290 523 434 14% 24% -48% -5% -22% -37% Deficit
Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Andhra Pradesh

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Fig 2.

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The cumulative departure of annual rainfall from normal indicates the extent of
drought at a place. In the district, the cumulative departure of annual rainfall was
scanty i.e., more than 60% below normal, in 21 mandals and deficit i.e., below
normal by 20% to 59% in 19 mandals. In the remaining 23 mandals, the rainfall was
above normal. On an average, the district rainfall condition was deficient by
37% from normal.

3.0 GROUND WATER SCENARIO

3.1 Hydrogeology
The district is underlain by granite gneisses and schists of Archaean age.
The North Eastern part of the district is covered by consolidated sedimentary
formation of Cuddapah SuperGroup belonging to upper Precambrian to lower
Paleogoic Age. River alluvium occurs along the major river courses and to some
extent along minor stream coarses. The hydrogeological conditions in the district
are presented in Fig.3.

3.1.1 Ground water in Archaean Crystalline rocks

The Archaean crystalline rocks include granites, gneisses and Dharwarian
schists. The ground water in these formations occurs in the weathered and
fractured zones under water table and semi-confined conditions respectively. These
rock types do not posses primary porosity. Due to fractured and weathering, they
have developed secondary porosity often giving rise to potential aquifers at depth.
The degree of weathering in the Archaean formation is less than 20 m. This
weathered zone has been tapped extensively by the dug wells and dug-cum-bore
wells, which invariably tap the fractures occurring below the weathered zone.
Ground water occurring in these formations is generally developed by dug wells,
dug-cum-bore wells and bore wells. The depth of open wells range from 6.0 to
25.0 m below ground level and depth to water level vary from 1.5 to 23 m bgl. The
yield of dug wells varies from 10 – 200 c.m/day for a pumping period of 3 to 6 hrs. a
day.

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Central Ground Water Board has carried out ground water exploration at 108
locations from depth ranging 38 to 305 m bgl. The drilling data reveals that fracture
zones were encountered at various depths. Existence of deep fractures upto 200 m
were also encountered. However, generally, the potential fractures were
encountered between 40 and 100 m depths. The cumulative yield of fracture zones
varies from 0.4 to 15.7 lps. However, general yield of bore wells was found to be
between 1 to 5 lps. The E-W, N-S and NNW-SSE fractures are tensile fractures and
the bore wells drilled close to these fractures yield 1 to 8 lps. The NE-SW, NNE-
SSW fractures are shallow in nature and yield between 0.2 to 6.0 lps.

3.1.2 Ground water in Cuddapah and Kurnoo l formations

The Cuddapah and Kurnool formations occurring in the North eastern part of
the district comprise quartzites, shales, slates and limestones, over a limited area in
Tadipathri Taluk. The Cuddapah sedimentaries have undergone compaction,
metamorphism, post Cuddapah deformation. With the result, the rocks have
developed fracturing, faulting and folding. Solution cavities also occur in limestone
areas. Weathering in shales, limestones and basic intrusive rocks generally varies
from 5.0 to 15 m bgl. The depth of dug wells varies from 8.0 to 16.0 m bgl. The
depth to water level varies from 3 to 15 m bgl. The yield of dug wells varies from 50
to 250 cu.m/day for pumping period of 4 to 6 hrs. in a day.

Bore wells have been drilled by APSIDC for irrigation 10 years ago, in the
limestone tract. The yield of bore wells is reported to be more than 6.0 lps and often
upto 12 lps. But in general, it varies from 1 to 5 lps for varying pumping periods of 6
to 8 hrs daily. However, yields of these bore wells go down during summer months
and sustain pumping for 3-5 hrs daily. Most of these wells are being used for
cultivation of lemon.

3.1.3 Ground water in Alluvium

Unconsolidated alluvium occurs along major river stream courses like Pennar,
Chitravathi, Kushavati, Tadakaleru, maravanka. Filter points and shallow tube wells
and infiltration wells have been constructed to tap the alluvium in addition to dug

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wells. The depth varies from 3.5 to 12.0 m bgl with yield varying from 8 to 135
cu.m/hr. These wells also generally go dry or yield less water during summer
months.

3.1.4 Shallow aquifers

The shallow aquifers are being tapped by dug wells, shallow bore wells, dug-
cum-bore wells for irrigation and domestic use. These aquifers occur to a depth of
30-40 m, depending upon location, topography. The saturated thickness of shallow
aquifers varies from place to place, depending upon the topography, etc. The
saturated thickness of shallow aquifers varies from 5 to 20 m bgl, with average
thickness being 10 m.

As per yield test, the open wells have given specific capacity value varying
from 1.4 to 10.6 lpm per metre draw down.

3.1.5 Deeper Aquifers

Deeper aquifers comprising fractured hard rock occur at places where deep
vertical fractures or horizontal fractures occur, developed due to post -crystalline
deformation of basement rocks. Exploratory drilling by Central Ground Water Board,
Southern Region, has proved deeper zones below 100 m depth and often more than
150 m deep.

The deeper zones occurring below 40 m have been tapped by bore wells
drilled for irrigation as well as for drinking water purposes by State agencies.

3.1.6 Aquifer parameters

The Central Ground Water Board has drilled wells at 108 locations based on
the lithology of the bore wells; three cross sections have been prepared. All the
cross sections reveal that potential fractures with yield ranges of 1 to 5 lps are found
upto 100m depth.

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 Long duration aquifer performance tests were conducted on exploratory wells.
The result of the tests indicate that transmissivity of the fractured aquifer varied from
–5
0.5-316 sq.m/day and storativity values varied from 7.4 x 10 to 9.0x 10 -3. The
specific yield of unconfined aquifers varies from 0.01 to 0.055.

Central Ground Water Board has constructed 35 piezometers covering entire

district to study ground water regime. The depth of Pz varies from 27-56 m bgl. The
aquifer zones encountered between 8-43 m bgl. The yield of these piezometer wells
varies from 0.07 to 1.05 lps. The transmissivity values vary from 0.71 to 21.8
sq.m/day.

3.2 Depth to Water level

Ground water levels are monitored from a network of 71 observation wells
four times in a year. These observation wells, tapping the phreatic aquifer, include
dug wells and shallow bore wells.

The State Ground Water Department has also established 144 observation
wells and 70 piezometers with 61 automatic water level recorders.

3.2.1 Pre-monsoon water levels

The depth to water level during pre-monsoon (2005) range from 2.53 m to
19.67 m bgl. The shallow water levels of <5 m are observed in Northern and South
Eastern part of the area. The depth to water levels between 5-10 m are observed in
North Western part and Eastern part of the area. Deeper water levels of >10 m bgl
are observed in majority of the district (Fig.4).

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3.2.2 Post-monsoon
The Depth to Water Level ranges from 0.47-15.10 m bgl during the post
monsoon period (2005). The areas having water levels of <5 m during pre monsoon
have come upto 2-5 m bgl with minimum recharge and the area having water level of
more than 10 m bgl have come upto 5-10 m bgl. Water level of >10 m are seen only
in small-isolated patches in North West and Central and Southern part of the district.
(Fig.5).

3.2.3 Water level fluctuation

Majority of the district shows rise in water level between pre and post
monsoon period of 2005 (2-4 m). Rise of water level upto 2 m is observed in North
Western and Southern parts of the district. Rise of water level of >4 m is observed
in North Eastern part of the district. Water level fall of 2 m is observed in North
Western fringe of the district. Less fluctuation is observed in the areas where the
water levels were comparatively shallow during pre monsoon and where the slope is
less (Fig.6).

3.2.4 Long term water levels

An analysis of observation well data of CGWB and State Ground Water

Department for the period 1996-2005 reveals that 15% of the wells show a general
rising trend of 0.0143 to 0.644 m/yr and the rest 85% of the wells show falling
trend varying form 0.159 to 1.7458 m/year. Hydrographs are presented in Fig. 7.
Pre-monsoon trend analysis indicates that 13% of the wells are showing rising trend
ranging from 0.0521 to 0.7832 m/yr and 87% of the wells show falling trend ranging
from 0.0172 m and 1.5877 m/yr. Post monsoon trend analysis indicate that 10% of
the wells having rising trend ranging from 0.0015 to 0.5410 m/yr and the rest of the
90% of wells show a declining trend ranging from 0.0015 to 1.3823 m/yr (Fig.7).

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3.3 Ground Water Resources

Based on the Ground Water Estimation Committee (GEC 97) norms, ground
water assessment was done in 2004. The mandal-wise details are presented in
Table-3. Ground water resource available is 45825 ha.m in command area and
985.0 MCM in non-command area and total ground water resources available in the
district are 1443.25 MCM Ground water is available in Anantapur district. Ground
water utilization is 138.62 MCM and 953.29 MCM in command and non-command
areas, respectively. The ground water balance is 319.64 MCM and 31.71 MCM in
command and non-command areas respectively. The stage of development in
command area is 30% and in non-command areas, it is 97%. The entire district has
76% development and falls under semi-critical category.

Based on the ground water resource estimation, 28 mandals have been

classified as over-exploited (OE) and 12 mandals a Critical (C) and 9 mandals as
Semi-Critical (SC).

Out of 28 OE mandals, 8 are partially exploited in non-command part and

safe in command part. Similarly, among 12 critical mandals, 4 are partially critical
and out of 9 semi critical mandals, 7 are partially semi critical, particularly in the non-
command part of the mandal. Thus, it indicates that in general, command area falls
in safe category.

3.4 Ground Water Quality

3.4.1 Shallow ground water

The ground water in the district is in general suitable for both domestic and
irrigation purposes. The Electrical Conductivity ranges from 750-2000 micro
Siemens/cm at 25°C. Fluoride concentration in some locations of the district is more
than permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l. In some places, unsuitability of water for drinking
in the district is mainly due to the presence of Nitrate in the ground water sample. A
total of 993 Fluoride affected villages are there in Anantapur district.

21
Table 3.

Gw
S. Groundwater availability Groundwater utilisation Stage of dev
Mandal balance Category
No. ha.m ha.m %
Area in the basin ha.m
C NC Total C NC Total C NC Total C NC Total C NC Total C NC Total
1 2 3 4 5=(3-4) 6=((4/3)*100)) 7
1 Agali 0 13297 13297 0 918 918 0 1326 1326 0 -408 -408 NA 144 144 NA OE OE
2 Amadaguru 0 12105 12105 0 838 838 0 890 890 0 -52 -52 NA 106 106 NA OE OE
3 Amarapuram 0 22645 22645 0 1540 1540 0 2072 2072 0 -531 -531 NA 134 134 NA OE OE
4 Anantapur 3642 27320 30962 828 1809 2637 385 1960 2345 443 -151 292 46 108 89 Safe OE SC
5 Atmakur 0 23430 23430 0 1760 1760 0 1518 1518 0 242 242 NA 86 86 NA SC SC
6 B.K.Samudram 36655 9881 46536 4016 381 4397 1301 351 1651 2715 31 2746 32 92 38 Safe Cri Safe
7 Bathalapalli 0 22318 22318 0 1394 1394 0 1814 1814 0 -420 -420 NA 130 130 NA OE OE
8 Beluguppa 0 32086 32086 0 1879 1879 0 1390 1390 0 489 489 NA 74 74 NA SC SC
9 Bommanahal 53203 20100 73303 5956 187 6143 780 52 833 5176 135 5310 13 28 14 Safe Safe Safe
10 Brahmasamudram 0 29156 29156 0 1644 1644 0 1074 1074 0 570 570 NA 65 65 NA Safe Safe
11 Bukkapatnam 0 14742 14742 0 1049 1049 0 1080 1080 0 -31 -31 NA 103 103 NA OE OE
12 C.K. Palli 0 30210 30210 0 2136 2136 0 2156 2156 0 -19 -19 NA 101 101 NA OE OE
13 Chilamathur 0 28702 28702 0 1760 1760 0 1372 1372 0 388 388 NA 78 78 NA SC SC
14 D. Hirehal 6908 22785 29693 761 1129 1890 343 1210 1552 418 -81 337 45 107 82 Safe OE SC
15 Dharmavaram 0 37974 37974 0 2707 2707 0 2994 2994 0 -287 -287 NA 111 111 NA OE OE
16 Gandlapenta 0 16789 16789 0 1036 1036 0 1016 1016 0 20 20 NA 98 98 NA Cri Cri
17 Garladinne 25623 1773 27396 4451 129 4581 2260 171 2432 2191 -42 2149 51 132 53 Safe OE Safe
18 Gooty 21477 89580 111057 513 2217 2730 160 1396 1556 353 821 1174 31 63 57 Safe Safe Safe
19 Gorantla 0 27519 27519 0 1748 1748 0 1548 1548 0 200 200 NA 89 89 NA SC SC
20 Gudibanda 0 16354 16354 0 1034 1034 0 1431 1431 0 -397 -397 NA 138 138 NA OE OE
21 Gummagatta 13552 10336 23888 1826 591 2417 1020 782 1801 806 -190 616 56 132 75 Safe OE SC
22 Guntakal 13692 34419 48111 2089 1747 3836 523 1352 1874 1566 396 1962 25 77 49 Safe SC Safe
23 Hindupur 0 23142 23142 0 2039 2039 0 2093 2093 0 -53 -53 NA 103 103 NA OE OE
24 Kadiri 0 28531 28531 0 1292 1292 0 1015 1015 0 277 277 NA 79 79 NA SC SC
25 Kalyandurg 0 41984 41984 0 2588 2588 0 2896 2896 0 -308 -308 NA 112 112 NA OE OE

22
26 Kambadur 0 38415 38415 0 2855 2855 0 2129 2129 0 726 726 NA 75 75 NA SC SC
27 Kanaganipalli 0 37308 37308 0 2419 2419 0 2531 2531 0 -112 -112 NA 105 105 NA OE OE
28 Kanekal 22647 28563 51210 3766 1143 4908 1055 310 1365 2710 833 3543 28 27 28 Safe Safe Safe
29 Kothacheruvu 0 25370 25370 0 1849 1849 0 1417 1417 0 432 432 NA 77 77 NA SC SC
30 Kudair 0 31746 31746 0 2458 2458 0 1637 1637 0 821 821 NA 67 67 NA Safe Safe
31 Kundurpi 0 25661 25661 0 1320 1320 0 1050 1050 0 270 270 NA 80 80 NA SC SC
32 Lepakshi 0 15231 15231 0 1290 1290 0 1756 1756 0 -466 -466 NA 136 136 NA OE OE
33 Madakasira 0 34694 34694 0 2569 2569 0 2701 2701 0 -133 -133 NA 105 105 NA OE OE
34 Mudigubba 0 47096 47096 0 2629 2629 0 1467 1467 0 1161 1161 NA 56 56 NA Safe Safe
35 N.P. Kunta 0 28572 28572 0 1775 1775 0 1219 1219 0 557 557 NA 69 69 NA Safe Safe
36 Nallacheruvu 0 15464 15464 0 993 993 0 1264 1264 0 -271 -271 NA 127 127 NA OE OE
37 Nallamada 0 21935 21935 0 1455 1455 0 1460 1460 0 -5 -5 NA 100 100 NA OE OE
38 Narpala 20706 36667 57373 1314 879 2193 381 1836 2217 932 -957 -25 29 209 101 Safe OE OE
39 O.D.Cheruvu 0 26816 26816 0 1858 1858 0 2403 2403 0 -545 -545 NA 129 129 NA OE OE
40 Pamidi 17027 31823 48850 2688 346 3035 1357 329 1687 1331 17 1348 50 95 56 Safe Cri Safe
41 Parigi 0 16431 16431 0 1601 1601 0 2542 2542 0 -941 -941 NA 159 159 NA OE OE
42 Peddapappuru 0 22519 22519 0 1625 1625 0 2593 2593 0 -968 -968 NA 160 160 NA OE OE
43 Peddavaduguru 9556 17785 27341 1314 1347 2661 164 969 1133 1150 378 1528 12 72 43 Safe SC Safe
44 Penukonda 0 40214 40214 0 3036 3036 0 1810 1810 0 1226 1226 NA 60 60 NA Safe Safe
45 Putlur 8946 23449 32395 3982 1087 5069 1176 1412 2588 2806 -325 2481 30 130 51 Safe OE Safe
46 Puttaparthi 0 24822 24822 0 1842 1842 0 1406 1406 0 435 435 NA 76 76 NA SC SC
47 Ramagiri 0 31583 31583 0 2126 2126 0 2189 2189 0 -63 -63 NA 103 103 NA OE OE
48 Raptadu 0 26815 26815 0 1851 1851 0 2538 2538 0 -687 -687 NA 137 137 NA OE OE
49 Rayadurg 3138 35298 38436 1019 1857 2876 83 2131 2214 936 -274 662 8 115 77 Safe OE SC
50 Roddam 0 33827 33827 0 2432 2432 0 1976 1976 0 456 456 NA 81 81 NA SC SC
51 Rolla 0 11519 11519 0 793 793 0 1418 1418 0 -625 -625 NA 179 179 NA OE OE
52 Settur 0 28857 28857 0 1628 1628 0 1727 1727 0 -99 -99 NA 106 106 NA OE OE
53 Singanamala 24443 41761 66204 4053 879 4933 1421 824 2246 2632 55 2687 35 94 46 Safe Cri Safe

23
54 Somandepalli 0 24412 24412 0 1994 1994 0 1272 1272 0 721 721 NA 64 64 NA Safe Safe
55 Tadimarri 0 24921 24921 0 1303 1303 0 1284 1284 0 19 19 NA 99 99 NA Cri Cri
56 Tadipatri 0 44107 44107 0 2048 2048 0 2088 2088 0 -40 -40 NA 102 102 NA OE OE
57 Talapula 0 26747 26747 0 1431 1431 0 1266 1266 0 164 164 NA 89 89 NA SC SC
58 Tanakal 0 30347 30347 0 1941 1941 0 2417 2417 0 -476 -476 NA 125 125 NA OE OE
59 Uravakonda 2233 42022 44255 1078 2340 3419 74 1282 1356 1005 1058 2063 7 55 40 Safe Safe Safe
60 Vajrakarur 5960 39560 45520 709 1599 2309 57 680 738 652 919 1571 8 43 32 Safe Safe Safe
61 Vidapanakal 34596 19862 54458 4754 134 4888 269 32 300 4485 103 4588 6 24 6 Safe Safe Safe
62 Yadiki 0 26687 26687 0 1583 1583 0 1857 1857 0 -274 -274 NA 117 117 NA OE OE
63 Yellanur 11526 20171 31697 708 628 1336 1053 1147 2200 -344 -519 -864 149 183 165 OE OE OE
33553 17362 207178
Grand Total 0 54 4 #### 98500 ##### 13862 95329 109191 31964 3171 35135 30 97 76 Safe Cri SC
Note: OE = Over exploited; SC = Semi critical;C=Critical; C = Command; NC = Non command; NA = Not applicable

24
3.4.2 Deep ground water

The assessment of deep ground water is done based on 78 water samples

collected from the bore wells during the exploratory drilling programme. The deep
ground water is generally alkaline, but about 70% of the samples have fluoride
content of more than permissible limit of 1.5 mg/l.

As far as Agricultural use is concerned, all the samples fall in ‘excellent’

category. The deep waters are generally suitable for agriculture and irrigation
purposes. However, before using the deep waters for drinking purpose, the Nitrate
and Fluoride content should be checked.

3.5 Status of Ground Water Development

The district is mainly dependent on ground water for its irrigation and
domestic needs. About 52937 dug wells, 33964 bore wells and 561 deep tube wells
exist in the district.

To meet the needs of domestic water needs of the 3360 inhabited villages,
1119 bore wells are constructed as on March, 2005 and 2205 piped water supply
schemes are provided.

Ground water development is through deep bore wells in non-command

areas and through dug wells and shallow bores in command areas. Alluvial aquifers
are developed through filter point wells. In command areas, the stage of ground
water development is 30 per cent and in non-command areas, it is 97 per cent.

Large diameter dug wells piercing the weathered rock exist in the area for
irrigation purpose. They are mostly rectangular with dimension ranging from 4x6 m
to 10x11 m. The depth of the dug wells varies from 6 to 25 m bgl. The dug wells
are fitted with 3 to 5 HP electrical motors and yield of dug wells varies from 10 to 220
c.m/day for a pumping period of 3 to 5 hrs. a day.

25
 The depth of bore wells range from 60-200 m bgl with 6” dia and yields range
from 1 to 45 cu.m/hr. Most of the bore well yields go down in summer months. The
bore wells are fitted with 5 HP motors generally and run for 4 hrs. to 8 hrs. The
depth of filter points along the river and stream courses varies from 3.5 to 12 m bgl
with yields varying from 8 to 135 cu.m/hr. These wells yield low during summer
months.

3.5.1. Well Density

The well density in the entire district is 7 wells per sq.km. The well density is
minimum 1 well/sq.km and is highest in 17 wells per sq.km. in B.K. Samudram. The
mandal-wise details of well density are presented in Table 4.

Table-4: Mandal-wise density of wells in Anantapur district

Sl. Name of the Mandal Area of the Total Total no. Well
No. Mandal inhabited of wells density
(Hectares) villages wells/
sq.km
1 ANANTAPUR 29030 20 3542 12
2 RAPTADU 26755 11 2431 9
3 GARLADINNE 30497 18 3977 13
4 ATMAKUR 39734 8 1992 6
5 KUDAIR 39734 13 2284 6
6 SINGANAMALA 32541 19 3344 10
7 B.K. SAMUDRAM 24808 14 4102 17
8 NARPALA 26667 12 3608 14
9 TADIPATRI 36408 27 2804 8
10 YADIKI 34319 14 2723 8
11 PEDDAPAPPUR 22695 17 3068 14
12 PUTLUR 34185 17 3152 9
13 YELLANUR 30393 19 3102 10
14 GUNTAKAL 38942 18 1663 4
15 GOOTY 29897 23 1275 4
16 PAMIDI 27769 22 1970 7
17 PEDDAVADUGUR 31389 23 1192 4
18 URAVAKONDA 39281 22 1011 3
19 VAJRAKARUR 41438 16 626 2
20 VIDAPANAKAL 37730 14 864 2
21 DHARMAVARAM 37363 13 2634 7
22 TADIMARRI 25389 11 2503 10
23 BATHALAPALLI 23073 11 2106 9

26
24 C.K. PALLI 35538 11 2068 6
25 KANGANIPALLI 46137 10 2141 5
26 RAMAGIRI 33801 10 1593 5
27 KALYANDURG 49023 14 3413 7
28 BELUGUPP A 34089 13 1959 6
29 KAMBADUR 39975 12 2351 6
30 KUNDURPI 31587 10 2158 7
31 BRAHMASAMUDRAM 28824 13 2441 8
32 SETTUR 30969 9 1954 6
33 RAYADURG 33665 14 2336 7
34 D. HIREHAL 33645 17 1931 6
35 GUMMAGHATTA 24401 11 2275 9
36 KANEKAL 40265 17 2459 6
37 BOMMANAHAL 30634 16 1705 6
38 PENUKOND A 36720 15 1917 5
39 SOMANDEPALLI 24164 20 1478 6
40 RODDAM 32876 21 2219 7
41 PUTTAPARTHI 28804 12 1814 6
42 KOTHACHERUVU 20696 21 2049 10
43 BUKKAPATNAM 26778 8 1701 6
44 MADAKASIRA 39115 19 2735 7
45 AMARAPURAM 24264 8 2015 8
46 GUDIBANDA 22386 13 1827 8
47 ROLLA 16368 7 1775 11
48 AGALI 13962 7 1815 13
49 HINDUPUR 26706 16 2369 9
50 PARIGI 15431 16 1718 11
51 LEPAKSHI 14713 10 1814 12
52 CHILAMATHUR 22765 15 2009 9
53 GORANTLA 29430 19 2543 9
54 KADIRI 38794 16 483 1
55 MUDIGUBBA 44533 26 1804 4
56 NALLAMADA 30314 10 2004 7
57 N.P. KUNTA 28562 12 1243 4
58 TALUPULA 28035 11 2196 8
59 NALLACHERUV U 15463 11 1204 8
60 O.D. CHERUVU 27195 14 2103 8
61 TANAKAL 34433 18 2079 6
62 AMADAGUR 22511 13 1588 7
63 GANDLAPEN TA 24683 12 1077 7
TOTAL 1913491 929 134336

27
4.0 GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The Ground Water Management Strategy should be such that there is optimal
utilization of Ground Water resources and it should also take into consideration, the
well spacing norms. The Government authorities should offer planning and
management techniques to common public and cultivators to seek for low water
required crops.
Ground water development in command area through construction of dug
wells/bore wells may be taken up to a depth ranging from 40 to 100 m for utilization
of ground water resources available and use it in conjunction with surface water to
increase irrigation potential and to achieve the concept of equitable distribution of
resource. In non-command areas, over-exploited and critical mandals may be taken
up for artificial recharge to ground water on a large scale to sustain the existing
ground water abstraction structures. The indiscriminate trend of sinking of bore
wells need to be arrested through administrative measure or by legal implications,
which already exist in APWALTA Act. Economic alleviation plan should be framed
by integrating the technical expertise of different departments of district and mandal
level authorities like Horticulture, sericulture, small scale industries, Agro based
industries etc. in order to lower the pressure on ground water utilization.
4.1 Ground Water Development

The Annatapur district being prone to frequent droughts, it is not advisable to

go in for the development of entire potential available for development and restricts
50% of balance available for development. However, the ground water development
should be hand in hand with artificial recharge to ground water. A perusal of the
stage of development of ground water indicate that there are as many as 28
mandals falling on over-exploited category, 12 mandals in critical, 9 mandals in
semi-critical category. (Fig.8). The ground water development should be restricted
to the safe mandals of command area by constructing dug wells of 10-15 m depth
with a radius of about 5 m or shallow bore wells of 165 mm dia down to a depth of
40 to 60 m in the areas having water levels of less than 5 m bgl.

28
29
 The selection of bore well site shall be made consciously based on
geophysical and hydrogeological studies to avoid the failures. The unit cost of the
dug wells and bore wells are in the order of Rs.44,500 and Rs.12,500 to Rs.15,000
(Source: NABARD). Details of the cost of the wells are furnished in Table-5. When
cluster of wells are operated in an area for ground water extraction, mutual
interference will be there among the wells resulting in steep decline in pumping
water levels. A safe distance between two adjacent wells has to be maintained.
The well spacing norms, adopted by the NABARD, are furnished in Table-6.
Table-5: Unit cost of different type of wells
Sl. Geological Type of Dimensions Stainin Dimensions of Unit
No. formation MI Struc- g bore well Cost
ture Dia Depth Depth Dia (m) Depth (Rs.)
(m) (m) (m) (m)
1. Granite (a) DW 6 10 4 - - 25000
Related (b) DW 6 12 4 - - 32500
Rocks (c) DW 5 14 4 - - 34400
(d) DW 5 16 4 - - 44500
(e) DCB 6 10 4 100 30 31000
(f) DCB 4 14 4 100 30 39400
2. Lime Stones (a) DW 4 12 4 - - 17300
(b) DW 6 12 4 - - 32500
(c) DCB 4 12 4 100 35/30 23300
3. Sand Stones (a) DW 3 12 4 - - 11300
(b) DCB 3 12 4 100 30 17300
4. Shale (a) DW 6 12 4 - 35000
Formation (b) DCB 6 12 4 100 40000
5. (i) Bore BW - - - 150 40 12500
well in
Hard
Rocks BW - - - 150– 60 16000
(ii) –do– BW - - - 160 80# 20600
(iii) –do– 150–
160
6. In well bores - - - 100 30 5000
in all
IWB
geological
formation
7. Alluvium FP - - - 100 15 4500
8. Develop- DOW (Deepening 2 m from 10 to 12 m) 5000
ment of old
well

30
 Table-6: Spacing norms for different ground water abstraction
structures
Sl. Situation Spacing between any two wells (m)
No
Piccota Dug wells Filter point Bore wells
wells or shallow wells
1 Non-Ayacut 60 160 120 250-300
2 Ayacut 40 100 160 150-200
3 Near perennial source 40 100 160 200-300
lke river of tank
(within 200m)
4 Non-perennial streams 50 150 180 200-500
Source: NABARD
Selection of sites for development is highly specialized job and for picking up
sites for successful bore wells, all hydrogeological aspects are to be taken into
consideration to minimize the well failure to reduce the expenditure. The sub
surface details can be confirmed.

4.2 Artificial Recharge

Ground water conservation and artificial recharge works have been taken up
on a large scale since 2002, under Neeru-Meeru, watershed RIDF and other
programmes. So far, 9363 schemes have been constructed upto Mach, 2006. There
are 2314 check dams, 268 percolation tanks and 813 mini percolation tanks and 918
feeder supply channels, 2914 dug out ponds in the entire district.

In the 33 over-exploited mandals of the district, so far 989 rain water

harvesting structures are constructed and 4975285 cubic meter surface storage has
been created. With this, the total recharge to ground water in the district comes to
24,87,642 cu.m during water year (2005).

Rainwater harvesting structures like contour bunding, check dams,

percolation tanks, farm ponds are already in vogue. Artificial recharge works should
be taken up in the entire district in hard rock areas to get the maximum benefit.

31
 The construction of artificial recharge structures should be taken up on the
watershed basins, after ascertaining the run-off potential of the watershed and
committed run-off on the downstream side.

Roof top rainwater harvesting both in urban and rural areas should be made
mandatory to enhance the ground water recharge.

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
1.0 The suicides of farmers are reported from the entire district except few
mandals viz., Chilamattur, Hindupur and Lepakshi, irrespective of whether the
mandal is falling in command or non-command areas, low or high ground
water development. Majority of the deaths are due to social and economical
causes, escalating input costs, non-availability of institutional finance during
crop growing stage, market fluctuations for farm produce. In some cases,
farmers are going for a number of boreholes in 2-5 acres, without following
guidelines, resulting in dry wells, causing frustration leading to suicides.
Hence, indiscriminate digging of bore wells without consulting the concerned
Department should be stopped by local authorities.
2.0 It is seen from the exploration data that most of the potential zones were
encountered within the depth range of 40-100 m and beyond this depth,
potential fractures through occur, but rare.
3.0 Conjunctive use practice has to be adopted in the command area by utilizing
both surface and ground water resources. Ground water potential zones in
the command area re to be identified and developed. Ground water
development through bore wells can be restricted to 40-120 m.
4.0 High input costs and non-remunerative market rates for the agriculture
produce are the other reasons for the farmer’s distress. This problem can be
addressed to maximum extent by following agricultural farm models coupled
with effecting marketing strategy. Farm models have to be introduced in local
language for better management of available ground water resources.

32
5.0 Large-scale artificial recharge structures need to be constructed in the non-
command areas and over-exploited mandals and corpus fund has to be
created to maintain those structures.
6.0 Exploring the possibilities of diversion of surface water through canals/pipes
for filling up of existing dried up tanks in over-exploited mandals.
7.0 Rainwater harvesting structures like contour bunding, check dams percolation
tanks, farm ponds are already in vogue. The construction of the artificial
recharge structures should be taken up on the watershed basis and designed
for 50% of non-committed run-off so as not to deprive the down stream
watersheds.
8.0 The type and design of artificial recharge structures should be decided after
carrying out detailed integrated survey comprising remote sensing,
hdyrogeological, geophysical surveys etc. to increase the efficiency of the
structure to gain optimum benefit by user agency.
9.0 It is important to take up artificial recharge structures based on topography,
soil, slope, surface run-off of available and hydrogeological conditions rather
than target oriented in achieving the numbers. A technical team consisting of
Scientists, Engineers, Bureaucrats should monitor the structures on regular
basis.
10.0 In safe mandals, the artificial recharge to ground water should go hand-in -
hand with ground water development further development of ground water
should be restricted upto a depth of 100 m to avoid failures of bore wells.
11.0 For optimum use of surface and ground water, authorities must adopt
watershed-wise water management plans.
12.0 Further ground water development through borewells has to be avoided by
strictly implementing APWALTA Act in the villages that are categorized as OE
villages. However, ground water development in villages/mandals falling in
safe to semi-critical category can be developed on scientific lines.

33
13.0 Proper planning and care has to be taken in selection of sites for bore wells in
future with the help of Remote Sensing maps, Geophysical and
Hydrogeological Studies to avoid failure of wells.
14.0 Since the district is water scare, land use system should place emphasis on
cultivation of high value and low water requiring crops such as pulses,
oilseeds. The suggestions of Agriculture Department has to be followed,
according to seasons. Modern irrigation systems using drip and sprinkler
irrigation equipment have to be used for reducing he stress on ground water
system and help in enhancing he availability of resource.
15.0 Roof Top harvesting both in urban and rural areas should be made
mandatory to enhance the ground water resources.
16.0 Spacing between two adjacent bore wells i.e., 250-300 m and 160 m between
dug wells has to be adhered to.

Acknowledgements: The data provided by the State Ground Water Department,

Panchayat Raj Department, Agriculture Department, Irrigation Department, District

Water Management Agency and Directorate of Economics & Stastistics, Govt.of

Andhra Pradesh, for preparation of the report, is gratefully acknowledged.

34