Karimnagar Farmers Unhappy With Drought-Affected Mandals’ Declaration

Farmers are unhappy with the state government’s announcement regarding the declaration of drought-affected mandals. Their contention is that though many areas in the erstwhile Karimnagar district are reeling under drought, only a few mandals have been declared as drought hit.

According to them, out of 63 mandals, only eight, including Karimnagar Rural, Karimnagar Urban, Huzurabad of Karimnagar district, Jagtial Rural, Jagtial Urban, Kodimial of Jagtial district, and Veernapalli and Ellanthakunta of Sircilla district have been announced as being drought hit.

Not a single mandal from Peddapalli district is under the drought category. Even the most-affected Saidapur mandal has not figured on the drought list.

Farmers point out that a majority of villages in Saidapur mandal do not have water resources. Majority of the fields have withered due to depletion of groundwater table as well as interrupted power supply, a farmer from Raikal in Saidapur mandal Chada Prakash Reddy told Deccan Chronicle

Not only Saidapur, many mandals, such as Veenavanka, Ramadugu, Choppadandi, Husnabad, Vemulawad, Sircilla, and others are reeling under drought, said farmer M. Rajamallaiah. He said it is not proper on the part of the government to wash its hands off by announcing a few mandals as drought hit, though many areas have been affected by El Nino.

Senior BJP leader Gangadi Krishna Reddy expressed anger at the government for neglecting the drought-affected mandals. He wanted the government to add Veenavanka mandal to the list.

However, agriculture officials maintained that out of seven parameters, at least five should exist in a particular area to be declared as drought affected.

Decline in crop coverage, prolonged dry spell (more than 21 days), and loss of yield are among the parameters followed by officials while taking a decision on drought status, officials stated.