‘Lift water from Pulichintala to save Prakasam farmers’

• Farmers representatives allege that the government is releasing water to Krishna Delta and Rayalaseema areas neglecting Prakasam district conveniently
• AP Raitanga Samakhya president Yerneni Nageswara Rao says the farmers at the tail-end area of Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal lost their crops to withering and suffering losses

Ongole: The Prakasam district will be deprived of water source in near future if the government continues releasing water to Krishna Delta, Rayalaseema and other parts of the state, warned the farmers representatives in the state.

Speaking to media in Ongole on Saturday, they said that the government was releasing water to Krishna Delta and Rayalaseema neglecting the Prakasam district conveniently.

They suggested the government to lift water to Prakasam district from Pulichintala and demanded it to award compensation to farmers, who lost their crops this season.

Andhra Pradesh Raitanga Samakhya president Yerneni Nageswara Rao said in the Kharif season up to November 8, 112.68 tmc ft of water was released to Pothireddypadu, 23.04 tmc ft to Handri-Neeva and 15.10 tmc ft water to Kalvakurthy lift irrigation scheme from Srisailam dam.

At the same time from Nagarjuna Sagar, 61.88 tmc ft of water was released to right canal, 42.20 tmc ft to left main canal, 21.20 tmc ft to Aliminati Madhava Reddy project and 18.50 tmc ft to industries, he added.

Krishna Delta was supplied 122.05 tmc ft of water from Pattiseema, in which 85 tmc ft is utilised by the farmers, he informed.

Nageswara Rao said that all these data show that the government was supplying water to Rayalaseema and Krishna Delta besides cooperating with Telangana for political gain, but not thinking about the Prakasam district, which is dependent on the rest of water flown in the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal, after utilised maximum by the Guntur district.

He said that the Vaarabandi system is helping the farmers in Guntur and upper areas in Prakasam district to wet their farms repeatedly while the tail-end areas are not getting any.

He said that the farmers in the tail-end area of right canal lost their crops to withering and suffering losses.

He said the Veligonda project, which is dependent on the flood waters in Srisailam also will not get enough water if the governments continue to supply water to projects in the above.

Instead, he said that they have already submitted proposal to the government to consider constructing a lift irrigation scheme at Pulichintala and supply the water to right canal in Prakasam district to save agriculture in the tail-end areas.

He demanded the government to announce Rs 15,000 per acre as compensation to farmers who cultivated with hopes on government but lost the crops.

Chunduri Rangarao, president, Prakasam District Development Forum, Dr Kolla Rajamohan, Nallamada Raitu Sangham, Gorantla Koteswara Rao, former Darsi PACS president and Gollapudi Venkateswar Rao, farmers’ association member, who toured the Nagarjuna Sagar canal area with Nageswara Rao for two days and shared same opinion in the meeting.