If English bard Samuel Taylor Coleridge were alive, he might have rephrased his famous line “water, water everywhere… nor any drop to drink” from his poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, to simply say “every drop to drink” in a fitting homage to Devarakonda Krishna Bhaskar.
For the unversed, Bhaskar, the district collector of Telangana’s scenic Rajanna-Sircilla region, accomplished a noteworthy accomplishment five years ago. He spearheaded a project that raised groundwater levels by six meters, all in less than four years.
Now, the Mahindra and Mahindra chairman Anand Mahindra is full of praise for this outstanding IAS officer who caused a stir with his innovative approach. The billionaire was effusive in his admiration for the IAS officer for finding a solution to address India’s water woes. “Given our involvement in the farm sector, we are all too aware of the challenge the country faces in restoring groundwater levels. So no praise can be enough for this astonishing achievement by DK Bhaskar. He gives us hope that none of our problems are insurmountable. All it takes is single-minded determination,” he wrote.
In an interview, Bhaskar revealed the range of measures he had taken to give humankind more access to water. These included installing piped water systems, upgrading tanks, removing salt from water storage bodies, excavating trenches, and enhancing water storage capacity.
Desilting projects were carried out on several minor tanks, tactically positioned near reservoir access points to enhance water availability. “These small tanks played a crucial role in sustaining the local communities. In fact, some long-dormant tanks have been revived after decades and are now actively maintained by local residents,” he was quoted as saying.
He mentioned that approximately 699 water tanks have been identified, with 450 reaching full capacity this year. “One particularly noteworthy initiative, called Gudi Cheruvu, focused on acquiring land to expand the water-holding capacity of tanks located within temple premises, effectively addressing water scarcity at the grassroots level,” he told the media outlet.
An illustrious IAS officer, Bhaskar is the Director of Industries for the Government of Telangana. He is regarded as a giant in innovation for shaping industrial policies and contributing massively to economic development in Telangana.
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