When officials inspected four irrigation tanks in Gudipala mandal in May 2025, farmers and residents raised concerns about a problem that has become increasingly visible across Chittoor’s traditional water-storage network: shrinking storage capacity due to silt accumulation and alleged encroachments.

Chittoor District Collector Sumit Kumar inspected Bangarappa Cheruvu, Reddamma Cheruvu, Ramireddy Cheruvu, and Narayanareddy Cheruvu after farmers and residents raised concerns.

“The tank used to hold water for much longer. With silt accumulating and parts of the tank area being occupied, the storage capacity has been reduced. Sir, you know very well that we farmers are increasingly vulnerable to poor rains in Chittoor, and we have no other option but to depend on borewells when the tanks don’t fill,” P. Rangaiah, 48, tells the Collector when the latter interacted with the residents.

The Collector immediately directed officials to survey encroachments, prepare estimates for desilting, and examine the supply channels connecting the tanks. The Irrigation officials were given a free hand to use MGNREGS funds. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials were asked to remove soil reportedly deposited near Bangarappa Cheruvu during expressway construction, as farmers complained that the dumped soil had affected the water-spread area.

The Gudipala inspection is a testimony to a persisting problem that extends across Chittoor district.

The 2023 District Survey Report lists 4,121 minor irrigation tanks in Chittoor district. Their combined designed storage capacity was recorded at 15,133.73 million cubic feet (mcft), against a current storage capacity of 8,924.23 mcft, leaving a difference of 6,209.50 mcft.

A revenue official in Nagari said that the figure should not be described as the quantity lost to encroachment. “Storage capacity can decline because of siltation, damaged structures, reduced inflows, changes in catchment areas, and other factors. The survey records a substantial gap between the capacity for which the tank network was designed and the capacity recorded at the time of assessment,” he said.

Chittoor Municipal Corporation, the district headquarters, was once surrounded by 14 tanks that quenched its thirst for drinking water. Eleven of them had been fully encroached upon, while Gangineni Cheruvu and Kattamanchi Cheruvu had been contaminated by drain water and rendered unusable. Kajuru Cheruvu on the Chittoor-Palamaner road, within the city limits, was subjected to gross neglect, with its feeder channels completely shut for the last four decades, according to an official of Irrigation Department. The NTR Jalasayam on the outskirts is a saving grace, as it continues to serve the civic population.

Despite the vagaries of time, the condition of Gangineni Cheruvu continues to attract public attention. “Gangineni Cheruvu has changed considerably over the years. Wastewater, weeds, and garbage have affected the water body, while the surrounding area has become increasingly built up,” Ulaganathan, a resident of Chittoor, said.

Stating that the issue is not limited to the tank bed, a municipal official says that feeder channels, surplus channels, and drainage routes determine whether rainwater reaches and leaves a tank. Blocking any of these can alter the size of a water body even when its recorded land area remains unchanged, he explains.

Meanwhile, an Anantapur-based NGO, the International Human Rights Protection Commission (IHRPC), had approached the Chittoor district court, seeking protection of the buffer zone of the Gangineni Cheruvu from encroachment.

“Towards the Deer Park side and along the Vellore Road, the Gangineni Cheruvu had been subjected to ruthless encroachments. While its area was over 80 acres, it’s now not even half. We are also approaching the Andhra Pradesh High Court in this regard, as there has been no response from the district-level officials. This case clearly illustrates the continuing interface between urban land use and protected water bodies,” IHRPC general secretary R.K. Shobha Rani says.

Agarampalli Ayacut Cheruvu near Kanipakam provides another documented example. In a 2025 Andhra Pradesh High Court proceeding, petitioners identified themselves as ayacut farmers and alleged encroachment of the tank. The revenue records showed the tank’s total extent at 47.84 acres. The petitioners alleged that 16 acres had been encroached upon and that garbage was being dumped in the tank. They also referred to representations made to the authorities in 2007, 2020, and 2024.

“We have been approaching the authorities for years because the tank is our irrigation source. If a sizeable portion of the tank area is occupied, both storage and the ayacut are affected,” an ayacut farmer alleges.

Responding to the allegations, a revenue official states that tank encroachment could not be assessed based on local allegations. “Survey numbers, revenue classification, Full Tank Level, and the legally protected extent of the water body all become relevant,” he said.

The narrowing and encroachment of the Neeva River within Chittoor city continues to be a major public-safety concern. The issue is widely viewed as not merely an encroachment or revenue matter.

“It has become a flood-management and public-safety concern. When the natural river corridor is narrowed or obstructed by construction, dumping, or other activities, the river has less space to safely carry flood flows. During rains, the municipal and revenue authorities rush to the riverbed zone, alert the residents in encroached areas, and everything will be silent later,” Somasekhar, a resident of Chittoor, says.

During the October 2017 floods, 13 of 15 colonies in the Thena Banda and Veerabhadra areas were submerged, while residents of nine colonies were advised to evacuate, and these colonies were developed following encroachments on the Neeva riverbed, he says.

In 2022, more than 300 families were reported to be living along the banks of the river Neeva. Even today, the residents approach the district administration to show them a housing site, but the issue has remained vexed for years without a solution.

In 2024, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the Chittoor District administration to ensure that no sand mining was permitted in the Neeva riverbed without authorisation.

Residents observe that the top priority should be a scientific, transparent survey of the Neeva through Chittoor Corporation, comparing its original and present alignment and width. Every encroachment and obstruction should be mapped, legally examined, and removed wherever required.

“The river must not be allowed to become narrower at the cost of Chittoor’s flood safety,” Siva Kumar of Jendaman Street, close to the Neeva riverbed, says. Incidentally, in the Indira Nagar area, the Neeva River’s width remains truncated to a mere 20 feet.

Not only in Chittoor, but encroachments of irrigation tanks and their feeder channels in the Kuppam and Palamaner revenue divisions are raising concerns over the effective utilisation of water resources in the drought-prone region. Though a comprehensive, tank-wise official figure on the extent of encroachments is not publicly available, the issue assumes significance with the expansion of irrigation infrastructure.

“Encroachments can reduce storage capacity, obstruct inflows, and weaken the functioning of these traditional water bodies. The Kuppam branch canal, though launched with much fanfare when the TDP came to power, is yet to fulfil its promise. A majority of the tanks are on the verge of getting dry with no rains, coupled with tampering of the feeder channels, particularly due to encroachments,” says Manikyam, a farmer in Gudipala mandal.

Municipal authorities observed that the government has begun funding water-body rejuvenation through urban infrastructure programmes across Chittoor district.

The AMRUT 2.0 project lists a ₹7.70-crore water-body rejuvenation project in Chittoor. The other listed works included ₹1.23 crore in Punganur, ₹1.60 crore in Kuppam, ₹2.20 crore for Suragunta Tank at Kakavedu in Nagari, and ₹2.20 crore for Gobillakoturu Cheruvu near Agarabathi Colony in Palamaner.

Chittoor also has AMRUT 2.0 projects relating to sewerage infrastructure, including a sewage treatment plant and sewerage-network works.

“The sewage component is relevant to water-body protection because rejuvenation of a polluted tank can be undermined if wastewater continues to enter it,” an official said.

Reacting to the scenario of encroachments along water bodies, Chittoor Collector Sumit Kumar says the people of undivided Chittoor district should be proud of their terrain, with an extraordinary and unique network of micro-irrigation tanks, the other being the Uttarandhra region.

He said that the encroachment of water bodies in Chittoor district, particularly in urban areas, is “negligible and not visible”. The recent “Jaladhara Jalaharathi” water conservation programme of the State government had proved a boon for the drought-prone district.

“We did clear the feeder channels for over 1,250 tanks, and spent close to ₹200 crore for the works, along with deploying the NREGA force,” he said.

“When allegations of encroachment of water bodies emerge, they are mostly imaginative and unfounded, though the authorities would definitely verify all. Historically, the catchment areas and feeder channels remained disturbed. When we allow private players to dig gravel within permissible limits, the vehicle movement from tank beds would make one imagine that the water body is getting encroached upon,” he said.

“But there are certain isolated incidents. The Kajur Cheruvu in Chittoor city remained neglected for 40 years. The feeder channels were deliberately disturbed by vested interests so that the tank would not receive any rainwater. I did inspect the tank and initiated steps on a war footing to rectify the malady,” the Collector says.

Regarding the Neeva riverbed, “several families there have been residing there for decades.” The Collector says that the families that face annual evacuation are economically poorer sections.

“We can’t disturb them. But, there are no recent encroachments. We are also planning to provide families along the riverbed, vulnerable to floods, with alternative arrangements,” Sumit Kumar says.

Published - August 14, 2026 06:50 am IST