This story is from December 23, 2018

No water, no work: Kurnool farmers forced to migrate to unknown lands

No water, no work: Kurnool farmers forced to migrate to unknown lands
Farmers boarding a train from Tuggali railway station
KURNOOL(AP): Though the migration of agricultural labour from Kurnool has been happening for the past few years, this year has witnessed the trend of farmer migration as well due to severe drought. While the state recorded a 31.7% deficient rainfall, Kurnool district registered 50.2% deficient rainfall.
“Our family owns four acres of land. As there are no rains, we lost our crop.
Apart from working in our field we also work as agricultural coolies, but this year we didn't have any work due to drought,” says B Mahadeva, a farmer from Kambaladinne in Pedda Kadubur mandal. He boarded train (number 56503) on December 19 from Tuggali along with his three brothers and their families, for Lingamguntla in Pedakurapadu tehsil in Guntur district.
Ask him why he is disrupting his kids’ studies by taking them with him and he says, “Do you want me to leave them at home alone without us? Let their studies get disturbed. It’s a life and death issue for us. We have to survive first. The grown-up boys and girls will help the family by working with us.”
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A farmer with his family waiting for a train at Tuggali station
According to K Ramesh Babu, deputy station manager, Tuggali railway station, of the 400 to 500 passengers boarding trains every day, nearly 300 are farmers and coolies migrating for work.
“Lack of water for irrigation is the biggest curse for Kurnool and Anantapur districts. Farmers and labourers come from Yemmiganur, Tuggali, Patthikonda, Devanakonda, Aspari and Pedda Kaduburu to take the train. Maddikera railway station too witnesses similar scenes. If more than three to four families of a village migrate to the same destination, they hire a mini lorry. Some of them also migrate to Hubli in Karnataka,” adds Gattu Mallaiah, ticket clerk at Tuggali railway station.

This year has also seen a trend of double migration, where some went to Telangana during Kharif season and are now going to coastal Andhra for Rabi. Like 23-three-year-old rythu coolie K Ramu, who resides in Haligera of Aspari mandal in Kurnool district, who is headed for Prathipadu in Guntur after having returned from Telangana. “I am going there (Guntur) to work in chilli fields. During Kharif, five of us went to Zaheerabad to work in cotton fields and returned a few days ago. We are now going to Guntur as there is no work here. Though usually every year we only go once, either during Kharif or Rabi season, this year we are going for the second time,” he says.
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A farmer couple having food at platform
Farmers are complaining that they have lost everything as they invested about Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per acre in groundnut, cotton, Bengal gram crops but got no help from the government. Farm labourers too are unsatisfied as they feel their wages are not enough to meet their expenses. One such farmer is Golla Nagappa, a 20-year-old resident of Singapuram in Devankonda mandal of Kurnool who is migrating to Guntur because his cotton crop failed.
“Our family of eight is dependent on the two acres that we own. But as our cotton crop dried up we didn't get even one quintal per acre. Usually, if the rains are good, the yield is six to seven quintals,” says Nagappa, who is well aware of the hazards of working in Guntur where ginning mill dust pollution is a big issue but has no option as he has a debt of Rs 1 lakh on his hands.
“The groundwater depth has gone to 300 ft. As there was no fodder for the animals, we sold them and are now migrating. I am going to work in a cotton ginning mill in Guntur,” says B Urukundu of Kapati village in Adoni mandal.
Apart from Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa and Chittoor of Rayalaseema, the two coastal districts of Nellore and Prakasam have also been hit by drought.
Though the government claims extra ‘man days’ have been created under NREGS, farmers and farm labourers say they get only a nominal Rs 80 to Rs 100 per day. Newly married 20-year-old B Shankar of H Muravani, one of those boarding the drought train, says: “We get only Rs 70 under NREGA. I am going to Amaravati, the Andhra capital region, where I will be paid Rs 300 to 400 per day and my wife will get Rs 200.”
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A farmer travelling in an overcrowded train from Kurnool
But despite the claims of the Kurnool district administration that it has set up 68 seasonal hostels to lodge children of migrant farmers and coolies, kids will lose an academic year as they head to work along with their parents. “We have set up seasonal hostels where 3,000 kids can stay and go to school though their families have migrated,” says Kurnool district collector S Satyanarayana pointing out that migration is nothing new to the area. He, however, admits that crop failure has led to increased migration and says measures are being taken to combat the drought.
“The most affected areas are Aluru and Pattikonda mandals. We are providing water for farming and providing drinking water. Fodder is also being given at reasonable rates. The government has given extra man days under NREGs. We have sent proposals for Rs 616 crore input subsidy to farmers for crop damage. Though the loss would be more, this will help them to some extent,” he says.
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About the Author
U Sudhakar Reddy

Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.

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