Power cuts force ryots to rent power generators in Telangana

Farmers in Telangana are increasingly renting diesel generators to run tube-well motors amid allegations of irregular and low-voltage power supply. They say generator rentals, diesel and transportation costs are adding to their financial burden while forcing them to spend nights in fields

Siddipet: It’s indeed incongruous. One would expect to hear the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves when one goes to an agricultural field. But nowadays, all one can hear is the roar of electricity generators.

Welcome to the agricultural fields of Telangana, where farmers are turning to rented power generators just to run their tube-well motors, as they allege that the Congress government has failed to supply quality power to the farm sector.

---

Faced with low-voltage power being supplied, and that too irregularly, farmers are now turning to rented diesel generators to irrigate their fields. They are being forced to cough up at least Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,000 for every 12 hours in their desperation to save their crops.

The generators, which remained almost defunct in towns during the erstwhile BRS rule, are now in great demand in villages. Take the case of farmer Pandu, who cultivated paddy on three acres at Erravally village in Markook mandal. He laments that he had to run the generator for two days as the crop had started withering because there was no power supply to operate the tube well.

He reveals that farmers hardly get eight hours of power supply. Moreover, even during this shortened period of supply, the power fluctuates due to low voltage. This, in turn, burns out electric motor pumpsets, which hits farmers hard. Firstly, the fields get dried up, and secondly, it costs heavily to extract the tube well from underground, get it repaired and then reinstall it.

So, the best solution one could think of is to rent generators. A number of farmers have begun renting generators not just in Erravally and its neighbouring villages, but all over the State.

In Chelmada village of Medak district, Santosh Sharma says the cost of renting a generator could range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 4,500 for every 12 hours. In addition, the farmer has to bear the cost of diesel to run the generator, which consumes about three litres of diesel per hour.

Yet again, there is the additional cost of transporting the generator from the nearby town to the fields and returning it. Another farmer, Narsimha Reddy, said that they had never witnessed such power cuts and low-voltage issues during the decade-long BRS rule.

The farmers rue that they save little since they are forced to spend huge amounts on generators. Since the generators are being operated only during the night, as the Congress government has restricted power supply to the agriculture sector during the daytime, the farmers are forced to spend sleepless nights in their fields.

The farmers said that they need to fill the generator’s fuel tank every two to three hours.