Hyderabad: Depressed by the increasing burden of debts and the worry of losing his agricultural land to the Ranganayak Sagar canal land acquisition, a cotton farmer from Siddipet district ended his life.
Perna Komuraiah, 40, consumed an unknown pesticide in his field on Wednesday succumbed to the chemical on Thursday morning. He is survived by his wife, a daughter and two sons.
Komuraiah hailing from Makhdumpur village in the district owns a three-acre land and cultivated cotton and maize in different seasons. As the ground water levels started depleting in the village, he dug a well in his field, but even after digging more than 20 meters, there was no trace of water in the bore. To save his crop, he had taken loans from different banks and private individuals had come to more than '4 lakh, he still could not save his maize crop.
With no options left, he recently started working in a rice mill on daily wages to make a living for his family.
Meanwhile, officials of the canal works had made markings for land acquisition for the canal which would supply water to the lake in the village. The markings for the canal had covered around two acres of his land and this had caused him great worry.
On Wednesday he went to the field as usual and consumed a pesticide and collapsed in the field. A fellow farmer noticed him and rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to the pesticide on Thursday. The police registered a case and handed over the body to the family after an autopsy.
