Ponnala's village pained over parched crops

James Edwin Janagaon (Warangal): Even as Minister for IT Ponnala Lakshmaiah claims not a single acre of standing crops in the State has withered due to lack of electricity, the situation in his own backyard repudiates his claim. Farmers in the native village of Ponnala, Khilashahpur, and the neighbouring village Govardhanagiri in the district are a worried lot over the prospects of losing their standing crops. The villagers never had seven hours of power supply as promised by the government, it was only for the last few days that they had been getting up to five hours of power supply. "But it is too late. A major portion of crops has withered away," rues Gandhamalla Mallaiah of Khilashahpur. The government had belatedly gone to the farmers' rescue but to no avail, criticise the farmers. Half of Mallaiah's crop has already suffered irreparable damage. The farmers are unable to meet the fuel expenses to run diesel motors. Mesala Yadagiri, who has raised paddy in about one acre says he has so far spent Rs 20,000 on diesel. "For one hour, it takes two litres of diesel and I have been running the motor (run with a tractor engine) since March 4," he said. The situation is no better in Govardhanagiri village. Lakshma Reddy and S Venkat Reddy who raised paddy in three and two acres respectively have deplored that they already lost half of the crop due to dearth of power supply. Dadaboina Nagaraju who raised maize in two acres also relates the same plight. In both villagers, farmers say that despite water availability they are paid to see the crops wither away due to shortfall in power supply. An official of APNPDCL, V Mohan Rao, admitted that crops had suffered in some pockets, but added: "However, we have set the things right now. It is not entirely correct that crop is lost entirely due to shortage of power supply; some villages are suffering from shortage of water, too." However, the villagers refute his argument, claiming the nearby Aswaraopalli reservoir has boosted groundwater levels. Meanwhile, Minister Ponnala held a video conference with agriculture and NPDCL officials in Warangal and Janagaon on the day. He directed them to make regular field visits and ensure seven hours of power supply to the standing crops. He asked both the the departments to work in tandem to protect the interests of farmers.