Groundwater levels plummet; dried up wells, boreswells and tanks a common sight A drinking water crisis looms large over Anantapur district. With the monsoon playing truant and the water from the Tungabhadra High Level canal mismanaged, groundwater levels around the district have plummeted to depths unheard of before. Dried up bores, wells and tanks are the order of the day in the district. Although the district administration went into an overdrive ahead of time this year taking into account the prospects of a severe drinking water shortage, the scale of co-ordination needed and work to be done is bewildering them also. Pending applications Many applications for additional borewells in almost all the 63 mandals in the district are pending from as long as the Praja Patham in 2010, leaving much to be done at this point. Understaffed Besides the Rural Water Supply (RWS) Department and the Panchayat Raj Department continue to be understaffed to a good extent debilitating any fresh efforts of the administration. The difference in the crisis this time around is that, while villages were usually the most affected in a drinking water crisis, mandal headquarters and towns are also facing acute water shortage. D. Hirehal mandal headquarters remains one of the most affected, with residents facing water shortage from mid- February and the severity increasing by the day. On the other hand, Hindupur town has a flourishing mineral water business with increasing sales, while people unable to afford remain affected. Villagers on the outskirts of Singanamala mandal headquarters, try to fetch a pail of water from a well, which is close to drying up and yields more or less muddy water. With the mercury rising well ahead of time, the need for water has also increased. But the power cuts in the villages and mandals have left the Rural Water Supply staff debilitated and the supply of water affected. At many border areas of the district in the Kanekal and D Hirehal mandals, voltage fluctuations also continue to hamper the water supply. The district administration immediately requires a lot of staff to look into and work towards at least a temporary solution to tide over the crisis, lest deaths during summer rise both due to consumption of unclean water and thirst in the seemingly one of the most severe summers. Mandal headquarters and towns are also facing acute water shortage D. Hirehal mandal headquarters remains one of the most affected