Cattle and goats drink water in one of the most recently built sinks in various places in Andhra Pradesh. |Picture source: Arrangement
To meet the drinking water needs of livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, dogs and birds, the Andhra Pradesh government has built 12,000 new sinks in rural areas over the past 20 days.
The efforts under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Assurance Program (MGNREGS) are designed to provide much-needed animal breathing for villages prone to drought and heat-affected. Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan are also ministers of Panchayat Raj & Rural Development & Rural Rural Water Supply, the environment and forests have come up with the idea of building these sinks throughout the state.
3,000 sinks are expected to be completed by the end of April 2025, increasing the total to 15,000, a goal set by the government at the ceremony held on April 1. These troughs were established in villages identified by the animal husbandry department to quench cattle, goats and sheep.
Typically, the forest department builds sinks for wildlife in the summer to ensure survival when natural water sources dry up. The same concept was introduced under MGNREGS, and the state government has begun to build them in villages to allow animals and birds to meet the ongoing summer water needs.
All of these troughs are built very close to the faucet and can be filled easily and filled to the responsibility of the rural water supply department and village Panchayats.
Each valley is designed to store 3,000 liters of water, with a cost of between Rs 40,000 and Rs 45,000. It is estimated that all of these 15,000 tanks store up to 450 million liters of water together. Officials estimate that on average, each cattle consumes about 15 liters in one breath.
“These structures help eliminate the desires of nearly 3 million animals every day,” Panchayati Raj and Krishna Teja, commissioner of the Ministry of Rural Development, told him. Hindu Tuesday. He added, “About 80% of the planned construction has been completed so far and we also make sure to arrange regular filling of water.”
As temperatures continue to rise throughout the state, these sinks are becoming the lifeline for livestock and other animals fighting heat.
publishing – April 22, 2025, 4:11 pm IST
