Trees cut, farmhands die like flies in summer

No shades of trees in agriculture fields 

Cutting down of trees, that give shade in the agriculture fields is killing the farmers and farm labourers by dozens.

Faced with the extreme heat and lack of a protective mechanism in the fields, seven of them died of sunstroke in the last 15 days in the Adilabad district alone.   

Farm workers and farmers now and then used to stop work and take rest under the shades of trees tamarind, mango, and neem trees.

That helped them cool their body from the high temperatures. However, with much of such trees cut, the farmhands are forced to work without a shade.

The streams and rivulets that existed near agriculture fields have also vanished over the years. These also used to be of help to farmers, as they kept some part of the agricultural area cool.  

Farmers used to raise trees on ‘Gattlu’(left over the areas) but in recent times, they removed the Gattlu and converted those areas too into agricultural fields to increase the area under crops. Many farmers cut the tree in their agriculture fields and sold to contractors for firewood. So as to make some extra money.

Convenor of the district Athma Hatyala Nivarana committee Sangepu Borranna said as many as 12 NREGS laborers and seven farmers have died of sunstroke in the last 15 days. “The deforestation of agriculture fields started showing its impact on the farmers.

Most of the NREGS labourers and farmers who died after returning home from the work”, he said. He observed that farmers were using umbrellas for shade in their agriculture fields, as there were no trees.

Three deaths fo farmhands occurred in the district in the last five days. Sonerao,45, and Sidam Devrao , 50, of Nandigoan village in Barampur gram panchayat died of sunstroke in Talamadugu mandal and also Jakkula Ramesh,42, Kura village in Jainad mandal died of the same. Jakkula Ramesh was fainted and died while working in his agriculture fields.

Earlier, farmers used to leftover the land enabling the tractors to move freely in the agriculture fields but now space has reduced to allowing only one person to walk.

The number of traditional huts (Manche or Gudise) is coming down in the agriculture fields nearer to mandal headquarters and gram panchayat and such huts were seen now only in interior areas.