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Farmers stare at drying crops
The farmers and farmers’ association leaders are angry with the attitude of the State government, blaming it for asking the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to release water for Pushkaralu, but not to the delta.
Vijayawada: Krishna Delta, the rice bowl of Andhra Pradesh, is facing severe crisis due to inadequate water for irrigation purposes. Thousands of farmers are in distress as paddy seed beds are withering.
The farmers and farmers’ association leaders are angry with the attitude of the State government, blaming it for asking the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to release water for Pushkaralu, but not to the delta.
According to the figures released by Water Resources Minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao Rao, 10,035 cusecs of water was released to canals of Krishan Delta (both Eastern and Western Delta), which has about 13 lakh hectares of agricultural land. But farmers are contradicting with these figures.
Speaking to The Hans India, Farmers’ Federation (AP) president Yerneni Nagendranath said: “There is water in canals as per the figures released by the government.
The figures are being exaggerated by 22 per cent. Farmers in tail end areas in delta did not get sufficient water.” He also said that the excess water at Prakasam Barrage which was stored for the purpose of Pushkaralu was being released to canals. Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States have asked the River Board to release 20 tmc ft of water for Pushkaralu and nothing for the farmers.
The farmers’ leader asked why the government did not put a special requisition before the Krishna River Board for release of water to delta. Karnataka and Telangana States are releasing water to canals from the first day they got their water share form River Board. But the situation in AP is different,” Nagendranath rued.
Farmers are facing difficulty as the seedbeds are getting withered in many areas in Krishna district. A distributor committee leader said that the government should release at least 16,000 cusecs of water to canals to meet minimum needs of farmers. As per an estimation, the cultivated land this year also did not exceed the last year’ figures because of water scarcity. Farmers are saying that availability of water in canals after Gudivada area is very nominal.
Farmers are giving up hopes on this kharif season and preparing for dry crops like black gram and green gram in delta area. They are eagerly waiting for a heavy rainfall by end of this month, which will give them a last chance to cultivate paddy this season.
