ADILABAD: Cutting down of trees that give shade in the agriculture fields is killing farmers and farm labourers by the dozens. Faced with extreme heat and lack of protective mechanisms in the fields, seven of them died of sunstroke in the last 15 days in Adilabad district alone.
Farm workers now and then used to stop work and take rest under the shades of tamarind, mango, and neem trees. That helped them cool their body from high temperature. 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 farmhands, as they kept some part of the agricultural area cool.
Farmers used to raise trees on Gattlus (leftover the areas), but in recent times they removed the Gattlus and converted those areas too into agricultural fields to increase the area under crops. Many farmers cut the trees in the fields and sold them to contractors for firewood, so as to make some extra money.
Convener of the district Athma Hatyala Nivarana committee Sangepu Borranna said as many as 12 NREGS labourers 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 recently lost their lives after returning home from work,” he said. He observed that farmers were now using umbrellas for shade in their agriculture fields, as there were no trees.
Three deaths of farmhands occurred in the district in the last few days. Kotnak Sonerao, 45, and Sidam Devrao, 50, of Nandigoan village in Barampur gram panchayat, died of sunstroke in Talamadugu mandal while Jakkula Ramesh, 42, of Kura village in Jainad mandal died of the same. Jakkula Ramesh fainted and died while working in his agriculture fields.
The number of traditional huts is also coming down in the agriculture fields nearer to mandal headquarters. Such huts are seen now only in interior areas of the district.
