KARIMNAGAR: Blame it on the 24-hour power supply to the agriculture sector which is bringing down the groundwater levels or the lack of irrigation facilities, farmers from Velichala village in Ramadugu mandal of Karimnagar district are forced to hire water tankers not for drinking water or household needs, but for irrigating their paddy fields.
Ettem Mallaiah, a tenant farmer who took one-and-half acre land on lease, had cultivated paddy in one acre of land and maize in 20 guntas. Due to non-availability of water, the maize crop had withered and now he is putting an all out effort to save the paddy crop. “There is no other option left but to hire a water tanker everyday for `500 for irrigation needs,” he said.
Almost every farmer of Velichala village are facing similar situations and are forced to hire tankers for their agriculture needs. According to sources, there is about 500 acres of cultivation land in the village, including Guddelapalle and Kistrampalle habitations.
Each farmer in the village had spent over `1 lakh on farm inputs.
The five ponds and two tanks that were constructed under the Mission Kakatiya scheme are now filled with bushes and other weeds due to lack of water in the area. Villagers say that though the foundation stone was laid for sluice construction, nothing has been done so far.
Distressed farmers alleged that officials are not visiting their village to assess crop loss. They requested the government to send authorities for crop damage/ weathering assessment.
N’bad farmers worried over decreasing groundwater levels
Nizamabad: Farmers in some areas in and around eight mandals of Nizamabad district are losing their crops due to decreasing ground water levels. The situation is same in some parts of Kamareddy district too. According to Nizamabad District Agricultural Officer (DAO) N Govind, the crops that come under Nizamsagar canal are not affected. But several villages of Nizamabad and Armoor revenue divisions are facing problem due to decrease in the ground water levels.
“Farmers have decided to lose their crops and the same is being utilised as fodder,’’ he said. In Kamareddy district, out of 22 mandals, the ground water level has decreased in about 10 mandals. “Farmers of Lingampet, Nagrireddypet, Gandhari, Machareddy and Ramareddy villages are facing ground water problems,’’ said Kamareddy District Agriculture Officer Nagendraiah.
Retired army soldier charred to death in fire caused by cigarette butt
Hyderabad : A retired army man, Srisailam Mallikarjun Rao, was charred to death in a fire accident that took place on the fourth floor of Vijaya Sri Apartments in Asifnagar police limits on Sunday. When the 76-year-old man’s wife went to his room in the morning to wake him up, the room was bolted from inside. When she saw smoke emanating, she alerted her neighbours and the police. However, by the time rescue team could reach the place, he was found charred in the bed.
Hyderabad district assistant fire officer Y Prabhakar Reddy told Express that they found a liquor bottle, glasses and a cigarette box at the place. “After analysing the scene of mishap, we suspect that Mallikarjun Rao was in an intoxicated condition & smoked while consuming liquor,” Reddy said. According to fire department officials, as many as 4,088 fire mishaps took place due to careless smoking in the state during 2016-17.
Major fire breaks out at oil processing unit, loss not ascertained yet
Hyderabad: A major fire broke out at an edible oil and chilli powder processing unit located at Kattedan industrial area under Mailardevpally police station limits on Sunday. The fire department officials said the unit had nominal fire fighting set up. However, the loss of property and the exact cause of the fire are yet to be ascertained, said the officials. At around 7 am, an emergency call about fire mishap at Shalimar oil and chilli processing unit at Madhuban Colony in Kattedan was received by Telangana State Fire Control Room. After about two hours, the fire brigadiers managed to douse the flames. “It is suspected that the origin of fire could be due to an electrical issue,” said the official. However, no loss of life has been reported, the official said.