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No free power for rabi paddy
Rattled by a severe power crisis, the Telangana government has reportedly decided not to supply free power to farmers who grow paddy using pumpsets during the rabi season which begins from the last week of November.
Govt to educate farmers to go in for alternative crops
- Free power to each pumpset will cost Rs.5,000 to govt
- 20 lakh pumpsets are in operation across the State
- Another 2 lakh pumpsets installed without permissions
- Nearly 15-20 million units of power required a day
Hyderabad: Rattled by a severe power crisis, the Telangana government has reportedly decided not to supply free power to farmers who grow paddy using pumpsets during the rabi season which begins from the last week of November.
The government has instructed the officials of the Agriculture Department to take up a massive campaign in the villages to educate farmers about the power crisis. The officials of the department have been instructed to explain the farmers about the burden the government would face if the paddy is cultivated during the rabi season. They were instructed to encourage farmers to raise millets and pulses instead of paddy.
The financial burden on the government on account of free power per pumpset for paddy during rabi would cost around Rs 5000 to the state exchequer. A top official in the Agriculture Department explained to The Hans India that the power demand is estimated to increase from the present 125 mu to 130 mu if the 20 lakh pumpsets are put to use during the rabi season for paddy. Another 2 lakh pumpsets are installed without approvals from power utilities. Paddy could require nearly 15 mu to 20 mu per day during the rabi season. Crops would require more water from mid-February as the temperatures begin to rise. This would put heavy burden on the government to meet the power demand, the official said.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had recently asked the farmers to go for dry crop harvesting instead of paddy as the government was unable to meet the growing power demand. He urged the farmers to cooperate with the government.
Telangana, which is reeling under severe power crisis, had to struggle to supply free power for kharif crops. Though the government made all-out efforts it could not meet the power demand. Hence to avoid such a problem again which could have political implications, the agriculture department has swung into action and is trying to educate farmers on optimum usage of power for irrigation.
