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Krishna delta farmers desperate for water
The untimely release of water for the purpose of power generation upstream Prakasam Barrage resulted in a dire situation in Krishna district. Perhaps for the first time, the farmers in the district gave up all hopes on kharif crop due to lack of water. Farmers raised paddy nurseries based on the rainfall and bore wells at some places.
Paddy cultivation area comes down to 50,000 hectares from normal 2.55 lakh hectares in Krishna district
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Vijayawada: The untimely release of water for the purpose of power generation upstream Prakasam Barrage resulted in a dire situation in Krishna district. Perhaps for the first time, the farmers in the district gave up all hopes on kharif crop due to lack of water. Farmers raised paddy nurseries based on the rainfall and bore wells at some places.
However, nurseries and sowing operations took place in just 50,000 hectares out of total 2.55 lakh hectares under paddy cultivating area in the district, as the officials are unable to release water to Krishna delta due to dead storage levels in reservoirs. It may be recalled that the water in Srisailam reservoir was used for power generation during rabi season despite the warning from the Central government of weak monsoon. A field level visit revealed the ordeals of farmers at different places in the district.
A farmer, Anumolu Lakshminarayana of Kolavennu village of Kankipadu mandal, said that he had spent Rs 4,000 per acre to raise paddy nurseries. Now the paddy nursery is drying up due to lack of water, he lamented. Another farmer Jampana Subba Rao sounded despondent of kharif this year pointing to the withered paddy nursery. Goriparthi Sitaramanjaenyul of Kurumaddali village narrated the woes of tenant farmers.
Another farmer G Umamaheswara Rao explained that the villagers tried to bring water from a nearby tank by purchasing a 3,000-metre pipe but still failed to protect the crop as there was no water in the bore wells too. A farmer from Kothapalem village, Ganja Bikshalu, said there was no alternative except migration of villagers due to lack agricultural operations in the region due to lack of water.
She is feeding her three children by working as a construction worker in nearby towns. Thousands of acres turned barren as farmers stopped agricultural operations fearing losses due to lack of water supply through Bandar canal. Those who dared to raise paddy nurseries using bore wells are complaining of irregular power supply.
Majority of the farmers said that they had never witnessed such a situation in the past. They urged the government to come to the rescue of farmers by suggesting alternative crops and supplying seeds.
