Devotees visiting the famed Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in Vemulawada, Karimnagar district, have to be content with shower baths instead of a holy dip in the temple tank as a water crisis is looming large over this temple town. Several major pilgrim centres are facing water shortage, with summer reaching its peak and temple tanks going dry. Taps have been installed in the temple premises for bathing purposes.
According to the Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple authorities, the temple requires about 3 lakh litres of water a day, with more on Mondays and Fridays when devotees throng the temple. “We have pressed into service 70 water tankers to meet the demand. We have also set up showers for bathing,” a temple official said. The famed Brahmarambha Mallikarjuna Swamy temple, which receives 30,000 to 40,000 pilgrims a day and around 80,000 over weekends, is also affected due to fall in water levels at the Srisailam reservoir, and additional pump sets have been installed to meet demand. Water usually flowing alongside the Saraswathi Temple at Basar, Adilabad district, dried up, with the Godavari almost empty.
“The endowments department has taken steps to meet the summer rush as well as requirements of water in all the major temples. Due to the summer, some tanks in temples have gone dry,” according to C. Ramachandraiah, minister for endowments. Tankers are being used in several temples, including the choultries in Varaha Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam, Sri Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Swamy Devasthanam, Annavaram, Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy temple, Vijayawada, Sri Venkateshwara Swamy temple, Dwaraka Tirumala, Yadagiri Narasimha Swamy temple, Yadagirigutta and others.
Consequently, private tankers, costing between Rs 600-1000, are doing roaring business in the temple towns and neighbouring villages. Besides bottled water of standard brands and scores of new brands are doing a roaring business in most of the major temples. A one litre bottle costs between Rs 14 to Rs 16.