Farmers affected with backwater of Medigadda barrage intensify movement

WARANGAL: Farmers from around 12 villages who are unable to cultivate crops due to the submergence of their fields by the backwater of the Medigadda barrage built under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) project decided to intensify their agitation by using the social media platform (Twitter) to demand compensation from the state government in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

From the time when the government started construction of the KLIS project, the farmers of Bhupalpally and Gadchiroli districts of Maharashtra state were not able to produce any crops as their fields were submerged in the backwaters of the Medigadda barrage.

The farmers alleged that on several occasions they took the issue to the notice of the officials concerned and had been fighting for compensation for the last three years, but neither the Telangana government nor the Maharashtra government responded to their pleas.

The Telangana government, by notifying some of the lands, had sanctioned
Rs 10.5 lakh to the farmers. But the government sanctioned the compensation to only some of the farmers to subside the movement of the farmers. Moreover, it did not notify all the lands which are submerging under the backwater of the Medigadda Barrage. Still, there is about 800 acres of land that is affected by the KLIS project, they pointed out.

Reacting to their movement, the Maharashtra government had written a letter to the Telangana government and mentioned that there were some more lands in the Sironcha mandal which are affected by the backwater of the Medigadda barrage and urged the government to notify those lands, too.

The Maharashtra government also asked the Telangana government to pay compensation to the farmers for the lands they lost as per the market rate. But the Telangana government did not respond to the letter written by the Maharashtra government.

Then the farmers intensified their agitation and wrote the postcards to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde, and IT Minister, K.T. Rama Rao, and tried to take the issue to their notice. The farmers even tagged on to the Twitter accounts of Shinde and Rama Rao with the hope that they would get a solution to their problem.