Farmers in Khammam stage rasta-roko for irrigation water

Farmers in Khammam district staged a rasta-roko on Monday demanding immediate irrigation water for their crops. They said maize crops were drying up due to irregular water release from Nagarjuna Sagar and warned of intensified protests if supply is not restored

Khammam: Farmers in Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao’s native Khammam district staged a rasta-roko on the Khammam-Kothagudem highway on Monday for irrigation water.

A group of farmers blocked the road at Gubbagurthi on the Yaskuru-Pallipadu road in Konijerla mandal. They demanded immediate supply of irrigation water to save their crops, which were drying up due to lack of water.

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The farmers expressed their concern that their maize crops were withering because the authorities were not releasing water regularly from Nagarjuna Sagar. They said that even after meeting local leaders, their pleas were ignored.

The government has been releasing water using the ‘warabandi’ system and water supply was stopped for the past one week. The maize crop was at the kernel development stage and if water was not supplied, the yield might be affected, the farmers said.

The farmers’ protest caused a massive traffic jam on the road, with vehicular movement coming to a standstill. The local police intervened and persuaded the farmers to end the protest. The farmers warned that if the irrigation officials failed to release water immediately, they would intensify the protests.