Now, a Water War Between Farmers and Residents

Adilabad: Water war has taken a different turn, with those requiring drinking water and farmers seeking water for their fields under the Kadam Ayacut.

Farmers are seeking release of water for paddy to save their standing crops. Irrigation officials say they can't release water for paddy because they must save water in the Kadam project to meet people’s drinking water needs.

Irrigation officials are under pressure. They say the people will not spare them if they fail to give water for drinking purposes, and that they have to preserve water to mitigate future drinking water needs too.

Paddy farmers, on the other hand, are staging demonstrations seeking release of water to save the standing paddy crop under the ayacut.

Day by day, the water level is getting lower in the Kadam project due to lack of rain. Water evaporation loss is evident due to the hot weather conditions, and this results in a steady fall of the water level in the project.

Despite demands from farmers, the Kadam irrigation officials have stopped releasing water for paddy.

The Kadam project has only 2.062tmc of water against its capacity of 3.495tmc. Paddy had been cultivated in 68150 acres under the ayacut.

According to official sources, last year the water level on this day was 3,495tmc. Water inflow into the Kadam project is 93 cusecs, while the outflow into the left canal is 162 cusecs and 9 cusecs into the right canal on Tuesday.

Mancherial MLA, K Presagar Rao, has urged the irrigation officials to give one spell of water to save the standing paddy crop in Dandepally and Luxettipet mandals. The call was made after irrigation officials stated they would stop the release of water to the Kadam project for agriculture from November 7.

Farmers raised a hue and cry, demanding that the irrigation department release water to save their standing crop, it being in a crucial phase.

A senior leader of Mancherial said the farmers neglected their advice not to go for paddy this season due to the El Nino conditions, and instead cultivate alternative crops like pulses or arid crops. Now, facing odds, farmers are mounting pressure on the authorities for release of water for their standing crop.

He said the authorities can't ignore the future drinking water needs, which is crucial, and hence, “we can’t ask the irrigation officials to frequently release water even after knowing about the falling water level in the Kadam project.”

Farmer Rajender of Dandepally mandal stressed that the irrigation officials give water to the paddy crop up to the tail end, and urged the officials to strike a balance between providing water for irrigation and drinking water needs. The farmers alleged that the irrigation officials had already hurt them by releasing water 20 days late for Kharif.