Farmers under Peddavagu project in Kothagudem stare at bleak future

The project, located on the borders of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and which was completed in 1981, provides irrigation to nearly 16,000 acres, of which 2360 acres fall in Telangana.

Kothagudem: Farmers under the ayacut of the Peddavagu project at Gummadavelli village in Aswaraopet mandal in the district, who lost the Kharif crop season due to a massive breach in the project bund, are now facing the threat of losing the Rabi season as well.

A 250 metre breach had occurred on the project on the night of July 18 as the crest gates of the project malfunctioned and one of the three gates was not opened when the project received huge inflows following heavy rains in its catchment. Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy who visited the project in the fourth week of July held the officials responsible for the breach as they failed to respond quickly to the flood situation.

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The project, located on the borders of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and which was completed in 1981, provides irrigation to nearly 16,000 acres, of which 2360 acres fall in Telangana. Standing crops on the entire ayacut were damaged while sand deposits rendered a large extent of land useless for cultivation.

Minister Srinivas Reddy stated that sand was deposited in about 400 acres of land. He said Rs.8 crore was sanctioned to carry out immediate repairs and a ring bund was built by the side of the project spillway where the breach occurred to retain water in the project. However, the ring bund was washed away due to floods in the first week of September due to heavy rains as well as alleged poor quality of works in building the ring bund. It left the farmers with no water for irrigation as the project turned empty. The biggest problem the farmers are now facing is lack of assistance from the government to farmers whose lands are covered with sand deposits. The farmers suffered loss on three counts, firstly standing crops damaged, secondly sand deposits made lands unfit for cultivation, thirdly the farmers would have to lose Rabi season as there are no signs of repairing the project in immediate future, said a farmer Naradasu Rama Rao sharing the farmers’ plight with Telangana Today.

He said in some fields, sand deposits stood at one to three feet high while in other lands, four to five feet sand has been deposited due to floods. The government officials are not giving permission to excavate and transport sand making it difficult for farmers to prepare lands for cultivation. Ministers Srinivas Reddy and Nageswara Rao during their visit had assured farmers that they would be given permission to excavate sand from the lands. The affected farmers are still waiting for the said permission even after two months passed by, Rama Rao lamented.

He further alleged that the compensation of Rs 10, 000 per acre announced by the government was not given to genuine farmers. The officials prepared the list of affected farmers without visiting the fields but compiled the list as dictated by the local Congress leaders, he added.Another farmer Chanda Laxmi Narsaiah informed that a farmer has to spend Rs 20,000 per acre to clear sand deposits. Rs 10,000 compensation given by the government was a pittance. The government should give at least Rs 5 lakh to compensate for the loss, he said.

Nearly 200 farmers in Gummadavalli, Kothur, Koya Rangapuram, Vadde Rangapuram and surrounding areas suffered huge losses. The government should immediately launch measures to repair the damaged project bund as well as the crest gates so water could be supplied in the next kharif season, the farmers said.