The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Anxiety grips Nagarjunasagar ayacut ryots

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 29, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Anxiety grips Nagarjunasagar ayacut ryots

By S. Ramu

A view of the almost dried up bed of the Krishna from the crest gates of the Nagarjunasagar Dam. (Right) The Nagarjunasagar Dam from the viewpoint presents a pathetic site. Photos: P.V.Sivakumar

NAGARJUNASAGAR (NALGONDA DT.), JUNE 28. The truant monsoon and lack of inflows into the Nagarjunasagar reservoir has given rise to the threat of another "crop holiday'' in the ayacut.

``As of now, the situation is very grim. If rains play truant next week, it would be very difficult for the farming community,'' the Nagarjunasagar Project (NSP) Chief Engineer, A.Satyanarayana Reddy, told The Hindu on Monday. The NSP officials need at least one month's time to chalk out the water management plan for kharif, since the water position at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects dropped to the `dead storage' level long ago.

The NSP-- the lifeline of the farmers of Nalgonda, Khammam, Krishna, Prakasam and Guntur districts--should have a minimum of 100 tmcft of water to cater to the agricultural needs in the kharif season. If the NSP is to get sufficient inflows, the Alamatti and Narayanapur projects should get 50 and 15 tmcft of water respectively. Moreover, the Srisailam project should draw a minimum of 60 tmcft, according to the officials.

A view of the almost dried up bed of the Krishna from the crest gates of the Nagarjunasagar Dam. (Right) The Nagarjunasagar Dam from the viewpoint presents a pathetic site. Photos: P.V.Sivakumar

"If the NSP fails to get 100 tmcft of water from the Srisailam project by the end of July, then the question of a `crop holiday' arises,'' another official said. The ayacut ryots are not getting sufficient irrigation water since 2001-02, resulting in a heavy setback to the paddy cultivation. Of the 3.75 lakh acres under the ayacut in Nalgonda district, ryots could cultivate only 75,000 acres, that too, with lower yields due to insufficient water.

"The tolakari (first rains) is being very late for the first time in the last three decades. Though the rainfall was low, we used to get moderate rains in the first week of June,'' a farmer of Halia said. The district did not receive the average rainfall (750 mm) since 1999-2000.

"Farmers have been incurring heavy loses due to the lopsided water management policies for the last three years, but the truant monsoon this time is the last straw,'' the Ryothu Sangham district president, Nandhyala Narasimha Reddy, said.

"If the monsoon sets in as expected, farmers can start their operations. If they get enough rain to raise the seedlings, I hope we can release water by transplantation time. Everything depends on the rain and inflows from the upper projects,'' the Chief Engineer maintained.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh