Ryots in submergence villages harvest riches with paddy
The Hindu
Farmers of Vemulaghat, Etigaddakishtapur withstand pressure to give up their lands
Ch. Umma Reddy is a farmer of Etigaddakishtapur in Toguta mandal. His village will be submerged under the under-construction Mallannasagar reservoir of the larger Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP). He owns five acres in the village and when he transplanted paddy in three acres, officials forcibly tilled over the land on December 31, 2020, damaging the crop and making it non-cultivable. The officials did not rest at that they rendered one more acre of land non-cultivable by allowing water to stagnate around it. Mr. Umma Reddy has been facing tremendous pressure from government officials, including police, to sell his land to the government for the construction of Mallannasagar. But he has refused to be cowed down by the pressure and is determined to save his land and continue his cultivation activity. This rabi (yasangi) season he has sown paddy in the one acre of cultivable land that he has been left with and got a yield of 40 quintals and 40 kilograms of paddy. “I have faced all sort of pressure from the officials and police. They have even threatened me with dire consequences. Despite all this, I have cultivated paddy and got a good yield,” Mr. Umma Reddy told The Hindu. During last kharif (vaanakalam) season he got an yield of 60 quintals of paddy.More Related News