Even as the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project (KLIP) has rekindled hopes among the distressed farming community with the availability of water throughout the year, the same has become a bane for the farmers of two villages in Manthani mandal.
Farmers of Arenda and Mallaram villages in the mandal have not been able to take up cultivation for the past two years owing to submergence of their fields under the backwaters of the Annaram barrage. Annaram barrage was taken up as one of the three KLIP barrages between Medigadda and Yellampalli, the other two being Medigadda and Sundilla. From Medigadda barrage, the water is lifted through the Kannepalli pump house, making way for the water to flow through gravity into the Annaram barrage in Mahadevpur mandal.
The Annaram barrage was designed to store 11.9 tmcft of water and constructed to a height of 120 metres at pond level and 107 metres at bed level. It has 66 crest gates. The authorities have acquired about 1,200 acres of land for the project in Jayashankar-Bhupalapally, Peddapalli and Mancherial districts.
Not acquiring an additional 500 acres of land for the project is proving dear for farmers of Arenda and Mallaram villages with the submergence of their fields by backwaters. Instead of acquiring the land for the project on the pretext of huge cost of land acquisition, the officials have made two arrangements: they had dug a canal of 15 feet depth and 2-km length from Arenda village tank into Godavari river to divert the backwaters.
Similarly, they had diverted the water coming from Somanpalli village from Swaranapalli village into Manair river. The authorities had also constructed a protection wall to avoid submergence of fields at Annaram barrage, but in vain. Sunkari Mahesh, a farmer from Mallaram village, said that for last two years he had been unable to take up cultivation due to its submergence by backwaters of the Annaram barrage. “Before the Annaram barrage, we used to do cultivation by lifting water from Manair river. Now, I lost my source of living,” he said.
Paidakula Chandraiah blamed the irrigation officials for claiming that their fields would not be submerged. Now, because of their unscientific works, around 500 acres of fields had been submerged, denying livelihood to farmers, he said and demanded that the government include their land in submerged areas and give them compensation.