Low voltage, power cuts add to farmers’ woes in Medak

Low-voltage power supply and frequent power cuts are adding to farmers’ problems in Medak, with over 40 borewell pumpsets reportedly burnt out in Pedda Chelmada village during the last fortnight, leaving paddy crops without irrigation and causing mounting losses.

Medak: While drought and power cuts have already had a serious impact on the agriculture sector this year, low-voltage power supply has further pushed the farmers into a crisis. Since the borewell pumpsets and transformers were getting burnt out due to frequent fluctuations and power cuts, crops have begun to wither out.

The voltage of the three-phase power supply should be maintained between 350 volts and 400 volts. However, it was slipping down to as low as 180 volts sometimes, leading to the burning out of submersible borewell pumpsets as well as transformers.

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The plight of farmers in Pedda Chelmada village in Nizampet mandal stands out as a mute testimony to the predicament of the farming community all over the State. In this village, over 40 pumpsets have burnt out during the last fortnight. Since the fields cannot be irrigated due to this burn-out, paddy fields have started withering out, leading to mounting losses to the farmers. The unrest is forcing the farmers to stage protests on a regular basis across different districts over the unscheduled power cuts and low-voltage issues. However, despite the farmers’ protests, the Congress government has done nothing to resolve the issues of farmers so far.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Madiri Kanakaiah, a farmer from Chelmada village, said his crops have withered as one of the two borewell pumpsets got burnt out twice. Kanakaiah, who cultivated paddy on eight acres of land, has spent more than Rs 1 lakh on sowing even though he owns a tractor to carry out all the tilling operations. Since he would need to water the crop for more than a month, the farmer is worried that he would not be able to water the crop till the harvesting period.

He rued that the farmers were hardly getting eight hours of power supply to the farm sector even though the Congress government boasts of supplying more than 12 hours of power supply. Borewell mechanic Kammari Krisna Murthy said that he had got 10 pumpsets for repair during the last 10 days from Chelmada village alone. He said that the farmer would need to spend Rs 8,000 to Rs 15,000 whenever a borewell pumpset burns out. Adding to their troubles, the transformers have also burnt out in the village.

Khammam: Unannounced power cuts trouble farmers in erstwhile Khammam

Farmers in erstwhile Khammam have been facing trouble due to unannounced power cuts. The government, which promised 24-hour power supply for agricultural needs, is unable to supply power for at least seven hours a day, alleged CPI (ML) Mass Line district secretary CY Pullaiah.

He stated that people were facing unprecedented power cuts in the district. He noted that the lack of electricity had disrupted water supply, causing crops to wither, while tenant farmers were falling into debt and resorting to suicide after failing to recover their investments.

Imposing hours-long power cuts without prior notice could be attributed to a lack of proper planning at the ground level. Concerns are being raised that farmers are suffering severe losses as interruptions in the daytime free power supply prevent water from reaching their fields.

There is also a contention that the government is failing to address issues such as substation maintenance, transformer shortages and staff deficits in a timely manner, Pullaiah said.