Over 500 hundred farmers with about 150 bullock carts blocked Raichur-Mantralayam inter-State highway at Kurnool Cross near Yeragera, about 15 km from Raichur city on Saturday. The farmers put forth nine major demands, including uninterrupted three-phase power supply to pump-sets for seven hours a day.
Responding to the call given by the Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), the farmers, who came from around 30 villages around Yeragera, parked their bullock carts on the middle of the road at 11 a.m., raising slogans against the government. The agitation was led by KPRS State president Maruti Manpade.
Their major demands were declaring Raichur district drought-hit and taking up relief work, supplying three-phase power to farm pump-sets, implementing Bolmandoddi Lift Irrigation Project, etc.
Drought
Most of the agricultural rain-fed fields in Raichur district remained unsown owing to monsoon failure, said the protesters. Villages are facing drinking water crisis and shortfall of fodder for domestic animals; and people were migrating to cities in search of livelihoods.
Electricity
The Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (Gescom) incurred the farmers' wrath for improper power supply to farm pump-sets. "We don't have canal-based irrigation facilities. The monsoon has failed this year. We are now dependent on groundwater. But, Gescom is playing with our lives by supplying three-phase power only for couple of hours a day for our pump-sets, with frequent cuts in between," another farmer said.
Lift irrigation
Another demand was implementation of the Bolmandoddi Lift Irrigation project that was expected to irrigate around 1,20,000 acres of farmlands in Raichur taluk. "The government has been unnecessarily dragging the project for years. The people's representatives in the district are not raising the issues and are using their energy to get the project implemented," Mr. Manpade said.
Gescom Assistant Engineer Rajesh promised that he would ensure power supply to pump sets for seven hours a day. The agitation was withdrawn at 1 p.m. after Raichur in-charge Minister Sharan Prakash Patil spoke to farmers' leaders over the phone and promised to address their issues on priority basis. "The Minister said he would meet us on August 15 in Raichur to discuss our demands," Mr. Manpade said.
