Telangana’s chief minister A Revanth Reddy convened an urgent meeting to tackle the repercussions of El Niño, focusing on essential needs in agriculture, water, and electricity.

Telangana chief minister, A Revanth Reddy on Saturday warned of a looming crisis due to El Nino and directed officials to prepare an action plan to meet the state’s drinking water, irrigation, agricultural and electricity requirements until June next year.Chief minister Revanth Reddy held a meeting with officials to review the El Nino situation and called for preparations on the lines of those undertaken to tackle the Covid-19 crisis.He said electricity demand was expected to rise further and assured officials that the government was prepared to spend any amount to purchase power if it was unavailable in the market.

According to the news agency PTI, emphasising the need for judicious electricity consumption, the chief minister called for steps to temporarily defer works that depend on power, according to an official release.He also directed officials to launch public awareness campaigns on the impact of El Nino through cinema, the media and other platforms.Stressing the need to prevent further disruptions to water supply, chief minister said not even a single drop of water should be wasted.An official release issued on October 9 said the chief minister would meet ministers on October 12 to discuss the state’s mounting agricultural and supply challenges arising from rainfall deficits linked to El Nino.The state recorded 17 per cent below-normal rainfall during the monsoon season, leaving around 235 mandals facing drought-like conditions, the release said.