Telangana Today Impact: Transco officials lay new line Sravanthi’s paddy field

Following the publication, officials visited the paddy field on Sunday and arranged the connection from an electric pole (which supplies power to a rice mill) 20 yards away from the field.

Siddipet: A news item published in these columns on the plight of Sravanthi, widow of a farmer who died by suicide prompted the power supply officials to rush to the village and lay a new power line to the field. The officials have also promised to get a new electric pole near the one acre paddy field of the widow Chiguru Sravanthi in Bangla Venkatapur in Gajwel mandal.

The news report with headline ‘Erratic power supply haunts farmer’s widow‘ on April 20 detailed how Sravanthi’s husband Chiguru Swamy ended his life after mounting debts and how the widow had to spend Rs 25,000 to get the burnt out electric motor repaired thrice. Following the publication, officials visited the paddy field on Sunday and arranged the connection from an electric pole (which supplies power to a rice mill) 20 yards away from the field. Hitherto, the field power connection was from an electric pole that was over 500 meters away from the field.

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Transco officials have also assured her that a new and permanent pole to her paddy field would be sanctioned after the land was transferred in her name. The one-acre land was still in the name of her husband Chiguru Swamy’s grandfather. Swamy had died by suicide in February this year because he had incurred huge debts over the years. Swamy had cultivated paddy in 30 guntas of land Yasangi. Sravanthi said the pumpset got burnt on the day when they were preparing for Swamy’s funeral on February 26. The relatives who were attending the funeral mobilised funds and got it repaired.

Transco clarification:

A Transco press release maintained that the “connection was an illegally drawn …” and that there were no complaints of power fluctuations from three other farmers who had fields nearby. “Further the bore motor of the deceased farmer failed due to faulty wiring done by local technician. The bore wells belonging to the neighbour’s connection on the same transformer were working well.” The press release maintained that paddy crop grown by Sravanthi and that of neighbours were in “good condition” and that there was no damage to the crops. The Transco also claimed that Sravanthi informed them that Swamy’s suicide was due to financial and personal problems and not due to power issues.