Even as the second crop (rabi) is not officially declared on the Krishna delta and Irrigation Advisory Board (IAB) has not taken a call whether or not water will be released for the cropping season, water is being released to the delta sans disruption.
A few farmers, who have taken the risk of sowing paddy, seem to be the only beneficiaries.
The first summer post-bifurcation is witnessing a severe depletion of water levels in the two important reservoirs – Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar. Farmers cultivating 13 lakh acres, residents of Vijayawada and Guntur, a few towns and hundreds of villages in Krishna delta depend on these two sources for their drinking water and irrigation needs.
As of Tuesday, water level at Srisailam dam stands 805 feet, nearly 50 feet below the minimum drawdown level (MDDL) at which power generation should be stopped. The water level at the reservoir stood at 836 feet on the corresponding day last year and 837.8 feet on the corresponding day in 2013.
Power generation, however, said to be the real culprit behind the depletion of water level in the reservoirs.
“Though Krishna delta farmers enjoy first riparian rights over the Krishna water, they are the last to get it. It is no more viable to do agriculture in the delta, because yields diminish with the delay in raising seed beds and transplantation,” Mr. G. Durga Rao, a farmer of Kankipadu.
Giving power generation precedence over irrigation will prove counter-productive in the long run. Unless the State government asserts itself and puts pressure on the Telangana to stop using water in the reservoirs, farmers would be subject to uncertainty, an official of the Irrigation Department said.
Krishna delta is no more viable for farming, because yields diminish with the delay in transplantation
G. Durga Rao,a farmer
Giving power generation precedence over irrigation will prove counter-productive in the long run
Irrigation official
