Deluge of woes for farmers

Sand piled over hundreds of acres of agricultural fields in Peddapalli district

Monsoon rains brought some of the most horrible moments in their lives. In the third week of this July, the rains created mayhem, leaving thousands of farmers and their families in misery in Peddapalli district.

With sand piled over hundreds of acres of agricultural fields as flood water receded, fallen trees, electric transformers uprooted, tar roads shattered, several parts of the district presented frightening and forlorn pictures.

As rainstorm hit on July 16 and 17, farmer Koteshwar’s family members huddled in their house in Khanapur village of Manthani mandal, suspecting that their agricultural fields would be ‘anyhow affected to some extent’.

When the rain god gave some respite, families of Koteshwar and other farmers of the village went to their fields only to collapse in despair. Scores of acres of their land turned into desert with sand piled up to one feet to two feet high. Part of the fields were sown with paddy seedlings and the remaining ready for sowing. All fields turned into saga of sad stories.

“Floods in 1983 were the biggest we witnessed in the last four to five decades. I was 14 years old then. Compared to that, three feet more high water hit the village fields,” says 55-year-old Putta Ramaiah. He is the husband of present Sarpanch Venkatamma. In his village alone, nearly 100 private water motor pumps installed on Godavari river bank, got washed away, and close to 20 electric transformers got damaged.

“Three massive high tension electric towers fell off, and repair works are yet to begin,” says Ramaiah.

River Godavari passes through small hills in a curve while entering Manthani mandal. Khanapur is among several villages located on the picturesque curving Godavari bank with over 1,000 population. Paddy is the main crop of the farmers in the village which is located nearly 75 kms from Karimnagar city.