Drought leads to distress sale

Intense drought- like conditions and the agriculture crisis have taken toll on the cattle in the Adilabad district of Telangana.

Farmers, who have been driven to penury by crop failure, are selling their bulls and bullocks in the cattle markets as they cannot afford to purchase fodder for them or even provide water.

The district is facing huge shortage of fodder and greenery is disappearing gradually.

It is learn that nearly Rs 12 lakh worth of beef is being sent to Hyderabad every day from various places in the district these days. Weekly cattle shandies are buzzing with activity at Ichoda, Utnoor, Muthnoor, Bhainsa, Nirmal , Sarangapur, Adilabad and Jainoor.

The issue of large scale beef exports came to light when a van which was transporting beef valued at Rs 3.5 lakh to the Hyderabad from Adilabad over turned near Mannur village at Gudihathnoor recently.              

Farmers generally sell their cattle in dry season only after completing their agriculture operations in the rainy season. Farmers are forced to sell their cattle at cheap as the buyers take the advantage of the farmer’s distress.

Sangepu Borranna, district convenor of Rythu Athma Hatyala Nivarana Committee, the situation was so bad that some farmers were even selling useful bulls and bullocks too’.

It was found that there was a rise in the sales of bulls and bullocks at the weekly cattle shandies in the last two months as farmers feels that there will be severe drinking water problems, shortage of fodder and lack of green grass in the coming days.

Cattle traders do not want to take risk involved in transporting cattle openly in vans to Hyderabad.

Adivasis seek state aid for Dandari fete

Severe drought conditions and failure of crops forced the headmen and Sarpanches of the Adivasi gudems to approach the ITDA, Utnoor for the first time seeking financial assistance to celebrate their traditional Dandari festivities during Diwali in Adilabad of Telangana.

Adivasis claim that they are not in a position to celebrate Dandari due to failure of the crops and mounted debts and hence needed financial aid to celebrate the festival.

Headmen of the 130 Adivasi gudems had submitted petitions to the ITDA officials seeking sanction of funds to celebrate Dandari during Diwali, which is a major festival for Adivasis.

They have appealed to state government to sanction funds for them and make arrangements for the celebrations of the Dandari on the lines of Bathukamma for which the state government had made elaborate arrangements across the state.

The leaders claimed that they are forced to seek financial aid as they lost two crops and are unable to clear debts they took from the various sources.  

Farmer suicides: Telangana to promote check dams

State government will promote check dams to increase the ground water table, and help in preventing farmer distress in the Telangana.

The check dams will be constructed on rivulets and streams along with the bridges to improve the ground water table to save standing crops during drought in order to prevent farmer suicides in the Telangana state.

Panchayatraj and Roads and buildings departments have to inform the irrigation department while they were constructing bridges on rivulets and stream and even small rivers so that irrigation department construct check dams at such places.

State government has issued instruction to the Panchayatraj and R&B departments to prepare designs of the bridges on streams and rivulets consulting irrigation officials. 

Reports revealed that some farmers had fallen into debt after digging many borewells but failed to get water for agriculture due drastic fall in the ground water at many places.

The state government is of the opinion that farmers were resorting to suicides due to crop failure and subsequent debts due to crop failures during drought and following the borewells dried up following the drastic fall in ground water table.

Borewells they dug goes dry within no time and this was resulted in low yields even after investing huge amounts in digging borewells.

State government found that water from rivulets and streams flowing downstream without any use and enters into sea at last. At many places, there were no check dams on rivulets and streams especially hilly areas and water flows to down stream.

It is also found that overflowing water from tanks goes downstream without any check and go waste but things become worst during summer when there were no rains or scanty rainfall.      

Minister for irrigation T. Harish Rao said ‘they were going to promote check dams on big scale in the state and construct check dams near Swarna irrigation project in Mudhole in the Adilabad to improve the ground water table for agriculture purposes and said state government will give nine hours uninterrupted power to agriculture from next Kharif’.

State government is making serious efforts to install new electric transformers and set up power sub-station to give uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture in future.