https://thewire.in/agriculture/telangana-farmers-tenant-survey-findings
Presenting the report, Kiran Vissa of the RSV, said that the claim that tenant farmers cannot be identified as the land they till is ever-changing does not hold because the survey found that 72% of tenant farmers tend the same land for more than three years. Only a minority rent the land for one or two years.
https://thewire.in/rights/annamayya-dam-flood-victims-still-homeless
Almost one year has passed since the Andhra Pradesh government promised to build houses for the victims of the floods caused by a breach of the Annamayya project’s earthen bund over Cheyyeru river on November 19, 2021. However, till date, all that G. Siva Reddy, one of the victims of the floods, has to call a home is a makeshift tarpaulin tent erected where his home once stood.
G. Neelamma, the widow of tenant farmer G. Narasimhulu from Yerraballe village, Duvvuru mandal of YSR Kadapa district, has been denied compensation despite a positive recommendation by the MRO committee. “I had to deposit the Rs 1 lakh I got with a village elder as all of my creditors wanted the money. They are pressuring me to sell the plot of land on which I have a house and repay the money. I hope I get the remaining Rs 6 lakhs to repay the Rs 7.5 lakhs debt left by my husband,” she said.
R Mallikarjuna Reddy from Gopulapuram revenue village in the Duvvuru mandal (headed by a tehsildar) of YSR Kadapa district, has left farming, having lost hope.
“I sold 1.21 hectares of my land to pay debts over the last three years and have Rs five lakhs in debt still. I am not willing to take up paddy cultivation again even on a tenancy basis and have become a mason now in the near-by Proddatur town,” he told this reporter.
Tenancy in AP is the highest in the country and is pegged at 42.4 per cent according to the 77th Round Survey of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), 2019. Sustaining viability of farming for tenant farmers against this backdrop attains added significance in the state.
“The viability of pro-market economic reforms rests on keeping the farm produce prices low. I am personally in agreement with a crop holiday by farmers across the country. Until they produce enough, governments will never admit there is an agrarian crisis. The absence of a lobby for farmers has allowed the government to look the other way with impunity,” Devinder Sharma said.
Lawyers have questioned the rationale of setting up a special court recently in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh (AP), to try those found guilty of smuggling red sanders wood, endemic to the Seachalam Hills.
They said having a special court would only lead to delay in adjudicating such cases of smuggling and that the new court will be pro-state.
There are 2,348 cases booked against red sanders smugglers in AP. The
special court constituted in Tirupati, with its jurisdiction spread
across the state, will try these cases which in itself is a problem, the
lawyers said.
Rayalaseema is a region in Andhra Pradesh that comprises of eight districts that includes Chittoor and Tirupati. Weather experts at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) located in Gadanki, Chittoor district of the Rayalaseema region state that the changes in precipitation patterns have been visible since 2012, owing to a slow change in the IICZ (Inter Tropical Convergent Zone), a result of climate change. They say that the changes caused by anthropogenic activities cannot be denied any more.
The education budget allocation has fallen since the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 (Table 1). This does not augur well for Andhra Pradesh, which has a literacy rate of 66.4% – lower than Bihar’s 70.9%, as per the National Sample Survey 2017-18. As per the 2021-22 socio-economic survey, the state’s literacy rate (67.35%) is also lower than the national average (72.98%). Moreover, the 2011 census pegged the state at the 31st position in literacy.
https://thewire.in/education/andhra-pradesh-marginal-rise-education-budget
“By allocating less than 11% of the budget towards education from 2015-16 onwards, the government has diverted Rs 30,000 crore over the years to other areas. By allocating merely one-fourth of that amount, the government is patting itself on the back,” rues K. Venugopal, chief editor of the magazine of Telangana Progressive Teachers Federation (TPTF).
https://thewire.in/education/telangana-education-gets-a-raw-deal-yet-again-in-the-state-budget
Though AP has fared better compared to others in allocation to healthcare, it has failed its doctors. The UGC pay scales were due to them from 2016.
But the doctors did not get this benefit until March 1, 2021, that
too without being paid the arrears. This, doctors said, halved the
pension of doctors who retired before this date as PRC was delayed and
pension is paid based on basic pay.
Also appeared in HansIndia:
Down To Earth published a small portion of this due to space constraint.........
Cuddapah: As the unprecedented rains triggered by a cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea led to a deluge and flooding and consequent washing away of Annamayya and Pincha projects in YSR Cuddapah district allegations and counter allegations flew thick and fast among political circles on whether it is a man-made disaster or something which was inevitable.
The reason for the disaster can be gauged from the fact that the perennially drought-hit Rayalaseema districts of Kadapa, Chittoor and Anantapuramu districts received rains in excess of 62.9 percent, 61.5 percent and 39.1 percent respectively. The adjacent coastal Nellore district received rain in excess by 21.7 percent.
Because of good monsoon, in the last two years, the water bodies in Anantapuramu district were full. The rains were the highest in 2021 rewriting history. The irrigation projects are designed taking many parameters into account, flood discharge capacity is the most crucial thing among them, says P. Subramanyam, a retired irrigation engineer and an authority on the historical injustice meted out to the Rayalaseema region.
The reason for the deluge was after so many years the catchment areas of Chitravati and Papagni in Anantapuramu received rainfall of 25 to 30 mm rainfall after it had got 10 mm rain for three to four times already. The catchment area was full by then. Rainfall data for the district mirrors the situation. The percentage of deviation from the normal rainfall of 33 mm was 196 mm, which amounts to a 494.8 percent in the month of November. The excess rainfall was recorded across all the 63 mandals of Anantapuramu district.
Apart from the rains, consistent demands for water to the rain parched region had led to filling of many ponds with Krishna water from Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi project and Tungabhadra high level canals. The Parnapalli dam whose capacity is 10 TMC already had some 8 to 9 TMC water. Hence Bukkapatnam pond and Anantapur pond were already full.
The heavy rains led to good flow of water in Chitravati and Papagni rivers after so many years. As it rained well in Karnataka the water from Chitravathi which never flowed beyond Paragodu flowed well. The holding capacity of the land and dams was nil and water had to flow out. The reason for the damage was river bed of Chitravati was encroached for plantations as the river did not flow for many years now. As water was released from the 10 TMC capacity Chitravati dam the river which normally flowed just 200 feet reclaimed its full one kilometre radius and flowed destroying plantations in thousands of acres. The water which flowed was 1.2 lakh cusecs, Mr Subramaniam says.
The episode shows the need to increase the capacity of the Gandikota reservoir which is currently 27 TMC and can be increased to 89 TMC by just increasing the height of the gates of the existing dam. During the Britishers time a plan was chalked out to construct a 240 TMC capacity project. The project is on Krishna river and is part of GNSS (Galeru-Nagari Sujala Sravanthi) and has three sources of water that is Chitravathi, Penna and GNSS canal water from which water is sent to Rayalaseema, he adds.
The damage was more pronounced in Cuddapah district as it received a maximum of 1008.2 mm rainfall from the normal level of 618.8 mm from 1/06/2021 to December 2nd, 2021, data provided by the district chief planning office shows. The district also saw the maximum number of deaths of 29 and left 13 missing. The maximum damage happened as the earth bund of Annamayya project swept away in the floods.
Responding to allegations of mistakes in design in the Annamayya project, M. Surendra Reddy, retd. superintendent engineer, Irrigation Department, says, “No project is designed for breach of all ponds. This has not been explained properly to the press. Ponds breached from Sodam and Somala the starting points of Pincha and Bahuda which have been designed for maximum flood discharge. The project was constructed factoring in the maximum rainfall in the last 25 years along with water that would accumulate from its catchment areas. The maximum one-day rainfall for Chittoor district is 160 mm. If rainfall exceeds that and smaller projects like the Pincha breached leading to a deluge. Annamaiah project is to the north of Seshachalam forest in Chittoor district. The down pour was unprecedented in 50 years. If the same downpour had happened in Kadapa, Kurnool and Anantapuramu on Penna river, Somasila project would also have not been able to cope.”
The Pincha project on its part designed for a flood discharge of 58,000 cusecs had a flow of 1,20,600 cusecs leading to water flowing over the top bund level. This lead to the caving in of the earth bund part of the 0.8 TMC dam. The concrete structure is intact only the earth bund has given away, officials say.
Questioning the explanation, B. Narayana, state committee member of the Communist party of India (Marxist), queried, “Are projects over Godavari and Krishna built by just factoring in the maximum level of water flow in 25 years. They are designed by taking into account flow of longer period. Is Polavaram being designed so? Why is it different for projects in Rayalaseema region. Moreover, it is a well-known fact that the gates were not maintained properly and the officials could not open a gate even last year. The gate could not be opened even during these floods.” Further proposals were sent by the irrigation department for strengthening the earth bund, he added.
Pooh-poohing any suggestions of fault in design of Annamayya project, N. Ravi Kiran, executive engineer, Annamayya project division of Cuddapah district says, “Proposals sent to the government were to increase the capacity of the project from the existing 2.24 TMC to 10 TMC and not because of any weakness in the earth bund. Projects over Krishna, Godavari cannot be equated with those in Rayalaseema as the flow of water is not the same. The main dam is 94 metres while the earth bund is 336 metres which is built to increase the water holding capacity of the dam. The changed circumstances will be studied and we have to examine whether to go for earth bund or concrete structure even if the cost escalates.”
The water holding capacity of the dam is 2.24 TMC and the discharge capacity is 2,15,000 cusecs. The flood that breached the earth bund was 3,20,000 cusecs, Mr Kiran added.
The officials also rejected allegations of lack of proper communication to the public on the impending flood to Annamayya project after the breach at Pincha dam and other ponds.
The highest rainfall was received by Chittoor district of 1235.4 mm from a normal of 618.8 mm between June 1st, 2021 to December 2nd, 2021 data from the district CPO shows.
The main damage in Chittoor district was owing to breach of water tanks built during the Vijayanagara kingdom during Krishnadevaraya era. The flood woes of the people in the district were owing to encroachment of these tanks which are put at 16,000 in the Rayalaseema region a majority of which of around 8,000 are in Chittoor district, says Kandarapu Murali, a CPM leader from the district. The local bodies like the TIirupati Urban Development Authority have permitted construction of residential colonies and even government establishments like the municipal office, government bus stand, vegetable market among others.
A very small portion of this was published by Down to Earth due to space constraints......
It’s either dry famine or green famine for us, say farmers in the Rayalaseema region.
Tirupati: The dramatic scenes on national media of NDRF choppers rescuing people marooned in choppy waters from Anantapuramu, people caught up in flash floods in the YSR Cuddapah district and unseen floods in the foot hills of abode of Lord Venkateshwara in Tirupati in Chittoor district have bewildered people all across, coming as they were from the perennially drought prone Rayalaseema region.
Weather experts at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory located in Gadanki of Chittoor district of Rayalaseema region say the changes have been visible since 2012 owing to slow change in the IICZ (Inter Tropical Convergent Zone) courtesy climate change at the global scale. They say the changes owing to anthropogenic (man-made) activities cannot be denied any more. Global warming is not taking place uniformly so due to temperature differences disturbances are inevitable they aver.
Being a rain-shadow region rains evade Rayalaseema region during June, July with rains happening occasionally. The region does receive more rains in the north east monsoon during October, November and December when the monsoon is retreating. This is true for both Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu, says Amit P. Kesarkar, a scientist at the NARL.
When cyclones also occur, they lead to deluge, Mr Amit says adding, “There is now a southward shift in occurrence of south west monsoon emanating from the Arabian Sea leading to more rains for Rayalaseema and TN. Normally the rains were not severe earlier but the southward expansion of monsoonal flow has increased chances of rain for the region in the last decade.”
Asked what is causing this shift he adds, the La Nina phase is making the Western Pacific Ocean warmer which leads to frequent easterly waves over Indian Ocean. The low-pressure areas which develop inside easterly waves is a combination of regional weather as well as probably climate change. Depressions which are happening inside the easterly waves are leading to more rains for South India as a whole.
While Rayalaseema region has received more rains in the last three years, the region was drought hit between 1995 to 2005 leading to huge shift in the cropping pattern from groundnut, paddy and sugarcane to others especially horticulture in the region, says Dr. Amit Kumar Patra, director, NARL.
Dry famine or green famine:
Farmers across the Rayalaseema region, Down To Earth spoke to vouch for these averments. M.B. Ramudu, from Mukundapuram village of Garladinne mandal of Ananthapuramu district says, “Paddy, cotton and groundnut crops have been completely destroyed. After we received rains in June, July farmers sowed groundnut it did not rain properly until September and then rained again now leading to rotting of the dry groundnut plants denying even fodder for our cattle. They have to survive now only eating green grass as we are flush with water everywhere. We either have dry famine or green famine. In this milieu, why will farmers not commit suicide.”
The information is vouched for by V. Chennappa, a chilli farmer in Kanaganapalli village and mandal of Ananthapuramu district who has cultivated chillies leasing five acres of land spending Rs three lakhs and is worried what fate awaits his crop as he is told it would be hit by more diseases due to these rains. “It’s been raining for seven days now and the groundnut crop in the mandal has been destroyed. The banana crop has survived as of now as the rains have not been accompanied by heavy winds.”
The experience of G.V. Ramana Reddy, a farmer from Gundlurivaripalle of Sodam mandal of Chittoor district is no different as the district received untimely rains in September when the nuts in pods had to grow. “It has been raining continuously not allowing the land to dry since September. Dryness in the land is needed for the plant to produce more pods as it tries to save its species. The groundnut produce therefore fell from the expected 20 bags of 40 kgs each to just 4 to 5 bags leaving me short of Rs 8,000 from my pocket having spent Rs 20,000 on the crop per acre.”
In this milieu, seeking remedial measures farmer leaders under the aegis of AIKS (All India Kisan Sabha) in Anantapuramu are currently undertaking a padayatra of 780 kms covering 170 villages over a period of 28 days. Speaking with DTE, R. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, district secretary, AIKS says “Proper remunerative rates should be ensured for banana crop, restoration of subsidy for drip irrigation equipment, input subsidy for crops, CCRC (Crop Cultivators Rights Card) for all tenant farmers among other demands.”
The remedial measures:
Given the situation, asked how the situation can be remedied, G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture in Hyderabad says, “We have to make changes in cropping pattern from paddy which we are growing more than we need to millets, pulses and oil seeds which we are importing from other countries now. We should think differently as situations have changed from 1960s to 2021. We are not short of food grains now. We have a glut. This will help mitigate changes in climate in our region as paddy and sugarcane being water intensive release greenhouse gases. We should cultivate paddy seeds which don’t germinate immediately after being soaked in water given the frequent storms.”
Responding to complaints on increase of sucking pests by farmers across crops like mangoes, tomato, guava etc, he adds, “Disproportionate usage of nitrogenous fertilizers from the required 4:2:1 of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus respectively would help lessen sucking pests which can be done by removing disproportionate subsidy to only urea. This has changed the composition of soil in some places to 7:2:1 or even worse 25:2:1.”
When asked what can be done to arrest them when farmers experience of pesticides failing to contain them is cited, he says, “With a coating of wax around them they cannot be contained using pesticides as the chemical won’t affect the coat. Soap water or urine of any animal can be used as spray to contain them as they remove the wax coat around them. Once the coat is removed and exposed to sunshine the insect will die. Traps also can be used to rein them.”
Changing crops, selecting seed varieties suitable for the changed climate, proper insurance schemes in case of crop losses and drying facilities for crops given the uncertain rains should be built at the local level would go a long way in mitigating farmers woes. A compensation of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 can be given to farmers when the government is prepared to spend Rs 28 lakhs to push oil palm cultivation in ecologically sensitive places like north east, he adds.
Unprecedented flooding of towns an inevitable consequence:
Speaking on the flooding in Tirupati, where Mr Patra resides for the last 20 years now, he says layouts have been okayed without factoring the topography of the area. Ponds should be part of the town. The water that accumulates on the hills has to flow downhill and the encroached natural channels which existed have to be revived.
The sentiment is echoed by former city councillor of Tirupati, P. Naveen Kumar Reddy, who is a vocal advocate of sustainable environmental practices says, “The TUDA (Tirupati Urban Development Authority), bus stand, vegetable market are all built on ponds. Thirty percent of the city stands on pond lands. There has been a blind penchant for laying concrete slabs in ponds meant to store water (Govindarajaswamy Pushkarini). Water from natural water falls Malvadigundam and Kapilatheertham which flow during rainy season can fetch 1 TMC of water. This can be stored within the forest by a storage tank. The natural flow route of this water has been concretised resulting in the drying up of 10,000 bore wells abutting the route. This leads to less seepage in the town leading to fall in ground water below 600 to 700 feet at several places. This water now flows into Suvarnamukhi river and some of it flows into the Bay of Bengal.”
A. Raghava Sharma, a veteran journalist in Tirupati town says, “The water that flooded our house and streets adjacent to ours could have been avoided if the water flow from the 1,000 acre Peruru water tank had flown to Tummalagunta water pond whose bunds were dismantled and turned into a playground. The pond would have avoided or lessened the flooding of the Padmavathi Mahila University and in-turn our area.”
Christened a smart city under the NDA government as part of the 100 smart cities mission, and spent crores on beautification of parks the city needs to get its priorities right. The city which did not have an elected local body got its council back in 2020.
One of the biggest ponds built during the regime of king Krishnadevarayalu, after whom the Rayalaseema region gets its name, currently has a small breach which is being attended to by authorities on war footing. Though a breach of the pond is not expected to have any material difference to the city as such the developments there are on the people’s prayers having endured the worst.
