WATER RESOURCES @ MAGAVARAM
On 26th July, the 7th grade students visited Mangavaram village near Tuni. There they have seen the age old wells, tanks, fields, irrigation facilities and the steps taken by the village to develop the water table. Mr.Anand Devavarapu, the Sarpanch of the village and also an alumnus of this esteemed organization, guided us and furnished with the information about the tanks and the wells.
WELLS and WATER TABLE
As we entered the village he led us to a very old, huge village well which was a main source of drinking water of the people of the village.
Its name is Manchi Neeti Nuyya.
These days, that well is not being used for drinking as its water level went deep down to 100 ft. It was dug about 200 years ago and at that time the water was available at just 10 to 15 ft. Due to improper storage of rain water and using more bore wells, the water level in the well has gradually fallen to 100 ft. To recharge the water table or water level in the ground, the government has constructed 2 anicuts in Tandava river, namely Mutta and Bhoomi.
After this, gradually the water level in the village started increasing. Now the water is available at about 30 to 40 ft from the ground level. All the rain water is being stored in these anicuts rather than running into the oceans as a waste due to which more percolation is taking place. Also the village people have dug some percolation pits to increase the water table.
TANKS
There is a natural tank near Namavaram.‘They call it as Aava. Aava in Telugu means a low land area having a huge pit. This tank irrigates the nearby fields which are there in about 2500 acres of land. The water is accumulating here from the nearby mountain, hill slopes and also some part from the Tandava. The level of the water varies according to the season and usage of the water. The total length of this canal is about 5 to 6 kms stating from Peddupalem or Pedurajupalem and is ending near Uddantapuram near the national highway.This is the second largest canal in Visakah Dist. There is a govt project in progress to construct a huge bund which could solve the drinking water problem of Nakkapalli mandal and Payakarao peta mandal. There is also another proposal to send 2 T.M.C of water to this tank from the Polavaram once the Polavaram project is completed.
And if this is successful, there won’t be any scarcity of water in the nearby villages which will be filled with greenery.
