Drought: BJP Blames State Govt’s Incompetency

Hyderabad: The BJP on Thursday alleged that the severe drought conditions in Telangana were a direct result of the Congress government’s alleged incompetence and lack of planning.

The party’s Kisan Morcha demanded that farmers who lost their kharif crops must be provided immediate compensation of ₹30,000 per acre and ₹10 crore should be allocated to each drought-affected mandal.

Speaking to mediapersons at the BJP’s state office, Kisan Morcha state president Baswapuram Lakshminarsaiah alleged that despite warnings about El Nino issued by the Centre and scientists as early as last February, the state government remained indifferent.

He alleged that the state government failed to coordinate power availability or manage water storage in reservoirs and was now attempting to mask this failure by blaming the situation on El Nino.

He claimed that 90 per cent of the mandals were facing drought conditions, but the government had declared only 365 mandals as drought-hit.

Due to the failure to provide adequate electricity and irrigation water during the kharif season, the paddy crop across approximately 13 lakh acres, about 18 per cent of the cultivated area, had withered, Lakshminarsaiah alleged.

He condemned what he called the government’s reprehensible conduct in the current rabi season, where agricultural officials at seed distribution centres were forcing farmers to sign bond papers stating that the government would bear no responsibility if their crops withered or if they suffered losses.

He questioned why the government, which was discouraging the cultivation of paddy, had failed to announce a plan for alternative crops.

Lakshminarsaiah accused the government of shirking its responsibilities and abandoning farmers in their time of crisis.