Farm ponds bring smiles to ryots’ faces

Talagaspalle (Anantapur): The District Water Management Agency (DWAMA), which is actively engaged in the mission of digging nearly 1,10,000 farm ponds in the district, is poised to complete them by the end of March, 2017. More than 2,000 farm ponds were filled with recent rains. Each farm pond has now water up to its brim with 3,000 to 5,000 lakh litres storage.

The Chief Minister's assertion during his visit to the district recently that the farmers would not have been in a precarious situation of crops getting withered had they heeded to his advice to dig farm ponds has influenced the farmers to go for farm ponds. Many farmers until recently felt that having a farm pond in their agriculture land is a waste of space, but many have changed their opinion and are now clamouring for the farm ponds.

An eight acre agriculture land of Obuleshu, a small farmer, is teeming with life today at Talagaspalle village in Garladinne mandal. Last year during the same season, the scenario was different with the three bores sunk in his land turning defunct as ground water levels were at its lowest ebb.

He lost hope due to erratic monsoon damaging his groundnut crop year after year. The farm ponds sanctioned under ‘Panta Sanjeevini’ by the District Water Management Agency (DWAMA) did the miracle for him. He took advantage of the ‘Panta Sanjeevini’ scheme and dug a pond of 10x10 feet with two metres depth as his cofarmers said that he would not lose anything by taking advantage of the government scheme as the entire pond was dug by NREGS labourers.

The recent rains had filled his pond with water. To his utter surprise his defunct bores began to yield water as his ground was recharged. He is now able to plant vegetables in four acres of land, along with his brother Maddela, in another four acres of land.

When several farmers visited his land, he shared his joy with them on the revival of defunct borewells. Scores of farmers have encouraging reports on the success of farm ponds and have clear indications of ground water table increasing.

Obuleshu is proudly showing his farm pond filled with 3,000 litres of rain water to his cofarmers. DWAMA project director A Nagabhushanam told The Hans India that nearly 22,554 farm ponds have so far been completed, while another 45,466 farm ponds are in different stages of completion. All the farm ponds are being dug with NREGS rural work force. Hundreds of farmers have seen the farm ponds changing the history and geography of their agriculture lands. The 2,000 odd farm ponds stored 60 lakh litres of rain water during the past one week.

Vijay Bhaskar, another farmer from Garladinne, says that his farm pond is teeming with life with the rain water. He said that the sheep and buffaloes being raised in his land have enough water to drink. Vijay says he has enough water for his horticulture crop as well as for his mini-dairy.

District Collector Kona Sasidhar, who has taken up the project as his own pet project to dig one lakh odd farm ponds and transform the district into a drought-free, told The Hans India that out of five lakh farm ponds sanctioned for the entire country, one lakh farm ponds were sanctioned for Anantapur district alone. The district stands top in the State with the enormous target and achievement with regard to digging of farm ponds.

The government is spending more than Rs 900 crore in Anantapur district alone on one lakh farm ponds. Each farm pond costs anywhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000.