The farmers of the Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts are baffled by the Central Drought Team’s visit scheduled during the ongoing kharif to assess the impact of the drought of rabi of 2023-24.
The farmers of the two perennially drought-struck districts are worried about how to present their drought woes to the officials, who are scheduled to be here on a two-day visit when the districts have unusually recorded excess rainfall from the last week of May to June this year and their fields are rain-fed and green.
The team’s itinerary included a whirlwind visit to the select mandals in the two districts on June 19 and 20 (Wednesday and Thursday).
The rabi season typically is between October and May when the district experiences extremely deficit rainfall.
Despite the prevalence of adverse conditions for agriculture, the State government has named only 14 mandals in the Anantapur district and one mandal in the Sri Sathya Sai district as ‘drought-affected’.
The Anantapur district experienced a deficit rainfall of only 67.1% during the crucial rabi months of October, November, and December, with only 45.8 mm of rainfall as against the average of 139.3 mm.
Additionally, January and February also saw no rainfall, leading to extensive damage to the rabi crops due to the prolonged drought and scarcity of drinking water.
Amidst this, the hectic political activity after March, particularly after the release of notification for Assembly and General elections, the officials did not pay much attention to the drought conditions here .
Later, the kharif season commenced following the rains this May and June providing considerably favourable conditions for the farmers to grow diversified crops during.
The Central team’s visit during this period, understandably, raised eyebrows among the farmers and district officials.
Per schedule, the team will focus on Vidapanakallu and Vajrakarur mandals which received excessive rainfall in June.
Notably, Vidapanakallu witnessed a 203% increase in rainfall of 142.8 mm compared to the normal 47 mm.
Similarly, Vajrakarur mandal also experienced a 609% increased rainfall of 207.3 mm against the usual 29.3 mm.
The Uravakonda and Kanekal mandals, which the team is scheduled to visit, also witnessed favourable rainfall in recent months.
The district officials said that the Central team would hold a review meeting on the drought conditions after concluding their visit to the combined Anantapur district when some team members are scheduled to visit neighbouring Kurnool.
On Thursday, the team will visit the villages of Mallapuram and Gullapalem in Vidapanakallu mandal in the morning, followed by Nimbagallu in Uravakonda mandal and Sollapuram in Kanekal mandal in the afternoon before leaving for Vijayawada.
Published - June 19, 2024 08:31 pm IST
