Area under cultivation declined by 1.20 lakh acres in Siddipet due to delay in pumping of water: Harish

Former Minister T Harish Rao alleged that irrigation in Siddipet dropped by 1.20 lakh acres this Vanakalam due to delays in pumping Kaleshwaram water. He accused the Congress government of ignoring farmers’ problems and creating a fertiliser shortage

Siddipet: Former Minister T Harish Rao said that the area under irrigation had declined by 1.20 lakh acres in Siddipet due to the delay in pumping water from Kaleshwaram to reservoirs built in the district.

During an interaction with farmers waiting at the urea distribution centre at Palamakula in Nanganur mandal on Friday, Rao said the area under cultivation came down to 4.50 lakh acres this Vanakalam compared to 5.70 lakh acres during the corresponding season in 2022. He accused the Congress government of pushing farmers into crisis by delaying the pumping of water into reservoirs. The former minister said that the area under irrigation had declined by lakhs of acres this year due to lack of water in reservoirs.

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Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of ignoring farmers’ issues, as they were being forced to wait in queue lines for hours. Citing the shifting of a semiconductor industry to Andhra Pradesh from Telangana, he said Revanth had failed to protect the interests of Telangana while other competing states were attracting industries and securing a major share of funds from the Centre.

He alleged that the Congress government was conspiring to stop the subsidy on fertilisers by creating an artificial shortage in the market. When he interacted with a woman farmer, Anitha, waiting in the queue line, she told him that she had been waiting since Thursday morning but had still not got her turn to buy a bag of urea.

Later, Rao offered ganga puja at the check dam built across Pedda vagu, which was in full flow. He said they had built multiple check dams across the stream during the 10 years of BRS rule. Earlier, he hoisted the national flag at his office.