Chinna Bompalle tank gets water after 20 years on feeder channel works

The Chinna Bompalle tank in Kosigi mandal has started receiving water from the rains that lashed parts of the mandal even before the onset of the monsoon, a relief to farmers.

District Collector A. Siri said water reached the Chinna Bompalle tank after a gap of 20 years, and attributed it to the feeder channel works taken up under the ‘Jaladhara Jalaharathi’ programme.

Ms. Siri said the works were carried out in the villages of Chinna Bompalle and Pallepadu in Kosigi mandal. “The water had flowed into the tank following the completion of feeder channel works linked to the Balavana Vagu stream,” she said. The works used the retention pit method, and the pits filled up after the recent rains.

With the completion of the feeder channel works for the tank, which lies between Chinna Bompalle and Pedda Bompalle in the mandal, the rainwater has flowed into the tank.

“Thanks to the completion of the two feeder channels, water began flowing into the tank even with light showers. If heavy rains occur, there is a strong possibility that the tank will fill to its full capacity,” she said.

She said 24 pits had been completed at the Chinna Bompalle tank against an overall target of 60. With each pit holding about 1.2 cubic metres, nearly 56,000 litres of water were conserved after the rains over the last two days.

The feeder works at the Balavana stream in Pallepadu village involved the creation of 76 percolation pits, and each pit allowed the storage and percolation of about 4,800 litres of rainwater into the ground.

After two days of rainfall, 9,600 litres of water per pit seeped into the groundwater reserves. “A total of 7.29 lakh litres of water was channelled into and stored within the underground aquifers. Through the retention pits system, rainwater is prevented from going to waste and instead percolates directly into the ground,” the Collector said.