HYDERABAD: The state government on Thursday directed the collectors of all the districts to get ready with contingency plans for a possible drinking water and fodder crisis in areas that did not receive sufficient rainfall in the south-west monsoon.

The officials were also directed to persuade the farmers to opt for short-duration crops under major dams were the water level to show no improvement by August 15.

This year, Andhra Pradesh is passing through a peculiar situation wherein the same mandal contains drought-affected and rain-lashed areas. Even though some mandals have received normal rainfall, many villages in such mandals have been found to be staring at a drought-like situation.

According to revenue minister N Raghuveera Reddy, who reviewed the situation in the state with district officials via video conference on Thursday, out of 1,128 mandals in the state, 28 fall in the scanty rainfall category where the shortage is 60% to 99% of the normal.However, another 321 mandals have recorded less than normal rainfall, that is, minus 20% to minus 59% from the usual.

As of Wednesday, Nalgonda (21%), Nizamabad (24%), Anantapur (31%) and Visakhapatnam (21.2%) are the AP districts to have reported deficit rainfall. Due to the extreme variations in rainfall, the government has instructed collectors to prepare contingency plans by taking the village as a unit. "There are many mandals in the state where farming is on in full swing in one area while in the other, no sowing has yet taken place," Raghuveera Reddy said.

Raghuveera, who reviewed the situation along with agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana and municipal minister M Mahidhar Reddy, said that Rs 45 crore has been released towards provision of drinking water in mandals likely to face drinking water problems.The minister hoped that the situation in AP reservoirs would improve over the next four to five days. "The reservoirs at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar are expected to get water by August 15," the minister said.

He said that on the apprehension that a critical situation might develop, a contingency plan had been drawn up in June itself. "If there is no improvement in the water levels in the reservoirs in question, the farmer will have no option but to go in for alternative crops for which the fertilizers and seeds have been kept ready," Raghuveera said.

Meanwhile, the water level in Krishna reservoirs in Karanataka has greatly improved unlike the situation in Tungabhadra. According to sources in the central water commission, as of August 8, the water level in Tungabhadra was 492.83m while the full reservoir level was 497.94m. Almatti is almost full to the brim at 518.70m while the FRL is 519.60.

Sources said that water is being released into the Krishna which will first reach Jurala Project and then come to Srisailam.