Hyderabad, Aug 9 (PTI) The Telangana government would conduct a ‘Varuna Yagam’, ritual worship of Lord Varuna, seeking bountiful rains during the current monsoon season.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy would attend the ‘purnahuti’ (concluding ceremony) of the ‘Yagam’ being organised at Nagarjuna Sagar project in Nalgonda distirct, an official release said on Sunday.
As many as 108 ‘Ritwiks’ (priests) will perform the ‘Varuna Yagam’ for which 11 ‘Homa Kundams’ (sacrificial fire pits) have been set up, it said.
The ritual will be performed by the priests and Vedic scholars of the famous Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Yadagirigutta.
The ‘Varuna Yagam’ is being performed to seek abundant rains and ensure that the reservoirs in Krishna and Godavari river basins receive adequate inflows.
Halfway through the southwest monsoon and already into the second week of August, Telangana’s two major rivers — Krishna and the Godavari — are still waiting for inflows that will ensure adequate water availablility in the state’s reservoirs and , irrigation systems, a release from Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy’s office said.
The spectre of El Niño and the uneven spatial distribution of rainfall so far during the monsoon season have left Telangana with little room for complacency, it said.
Nagarjuna Sagar currently has only 145.65 TMC against its gross storage capacity of 312.045 TMC. Its water level was around 518 feet, compared with a full reservoir level of 590 feet.
On August 9 last year, Nagarjuna Sagar had approximately 310.25 TMC, with the reservoir level at 589.40 feet — virtually at Full Reservoir Level. On the corresponding day this year, it has less than half that storage, it said.
An Expert Committee appointed by the Telangana government on the impact El Nino on July 30 suggested providing subsidy on drip and sprinkler irrigation systems and promoting drought-tolerant crops during the current Kharif season, among others, to minimise adverse impact of El Nino and deficit rainfall.
Responding to the government’s decision to perform the ‘Varuna Yagam’, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao has said there is nothing wrong with conducting a ‘Yagam’, but the government should take concrete steps to provide relief to the farmers.
He claimed that CM Revanth Reddy lacked understanding on irrigation. PTI SJR SJR ROH
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