Crisis deepens for Rabi farmers in Telangana as crops wither away due to lack of irrigation support

Protests intensify as water scarcity worsens in entire ayacut of SRSP Stage II; farmers, left high and dry due to severe water shortage, have been driven to the brink of suicide

Hyderabad: The plight of Rabi (Yasangi) farmers in Telangana is becoming increasingly dire as they reach the midpoint of their crop season. While a major segment of the crop requires irrigation support for at least two more months, some areas need an additional fortnight. But uncertainty looms large over the fate of the crops.

Many farmers, left high and dry with a severe shortage of water for irrigation, have been driven to the brink of suicide. Protests have erupted across the canal system. The farmers are agitated due to lack of positive response from irrigation officials.

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In Suryapet district’s Chinnasitaranthanda, farmers staged a protest on their knees, expressing their frustration at repeatedly pleading with Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy for water, to no avail. The desperation among farmers is palpable. A young farmer in Kudakuda village, Suryapet district, attempted suicide. Vemulakonda Lakshmaiah, a close relative of a Congress leader, consumed pesticide in his withering crop field, expressing anguish over the lack of timely water supply from the SRSP canal, which he blamed on the current Congress government’s failure.

As water scarcity worsens, protests are intensifying. More and more farmers, losing hope in their Rabi crops, are leaving their standing crops for cattle grazing. This has become a common sight in the entire ayacut of the SRSP Stage II, from Dornakal in Mahabubabad district to Kodad in Suryapet district. The fate of the Rabi crop now hinges on the Irrigation Department’s ability to ensure water supply in the next two weeks. Failure to do so could leave nearly half the Rabi farmers unable to recover even half of their crop investments. Unlike the previous BRS regime, there is no full fledged crop investment support either to mitigate these losses.

Groundwater depletion
Adding to the crisis, the groundwater table is depleting rapidly. New borewells are yielding no water. This was the situation even in the SRSP Stage I ayacut also. In Darpalli mandal, a farmer who spent nearly Rs 3 lakh on his standing crops in four acres is now ready to abandon his crops for cattle grazing. After spending another Rs 3 lakh on a new bore well that failed to yield water, he now faces additional costs to close it permanently. Many farmers are experiencing similar hardships.

The situation is equally appalling in the SRSP Stage II command area, which covers 4.43 lakh acres across Wardhannapet, Palakurthy, Dornakal, Maripeda, Palair, Thungathurthy, Suryapet, Kodad, and Huzurnagar. According to the irrigation plan for the Rabi crop season, five lakh acres of ayacut were targeted in the erstwhile Warangal, Khammam, and Nalgonda districts. However, at least 40 per cent of this area did not receive the necessary irrigation support.

The poor management of the precious water resources, especially failure to utilise the Pranahita waters by operating Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme is squarely blamed for the escalating escalating water crisis and its devastating impact on Rabi farmers. It is now realised by the peasant community that only Kaleshwaram Mega Pumps could have bailed them out from desperation by supplementing the supplies from the SRSP.