Samalkota: Plans afoot to prevent submersion of low-lying areas

Samalkota(Kakinada District): District Collector Krithika Shukla inspected the Yeleru Reservoir and examined the water capacity at Yeleswaram of Kakinada district on Wednesday.

Officials of irrigation, revenue and other departments have accompanied the Collector.

The Collector said that at present there is only 21.5 TMC of water against the full capacity of Yeleru Reservoir, which is 24 TMC. 4,000 cusecs of water was released from the reservoir. She said that in the wake of heavy rains, a plan has been formulated to prevent submersion of low-lying areas. Steps are being taken by cleaning canals and drainages in order to prevent submersion of low-lying areas, she added. Speaking to The Hans India, Agriculture Department Joint Director N Vijay Kumar said that paddy is cultivated in 2,24,337 acres in Kharif season in the district. He informed that the recent rains have submerged 16,500 acres of agriculture crops in the district. Due to the release of 4,000 cusecs of water from Yeleru Reservoir, Gollaprolu, Pithapuram and other areas have been totally submerged in rainwater. There are chances for rainwater to dry and farmers can heave a sigh of relief, he hoped.

The Joint Director said the officials have inspected the inundated paddy crops in Gollaprolu, Jaggampeta, Peddapuram and other areas and assessed the quantum of damage done by the recent rains. He said that as per the directions of District Collector Krithika Shukla, they are taking necessary steps for siphoning off rainwater stagnated in paddy fields.

It is every year's routine for the farmers to incur heavy loss due to heavy rains because of calamities like cyclones, gales or floods. Due to the torrential rains for the past few days, paddy, cotton, vegetables, black gram and other crops in the district were submerged in rainwater, causing heavy loss to farmers. Agriculture crops in Gollaprolu, Samolkota, Kirlampudi, Peddapuram and other low-lying areas have been adversely affected in the district as heavy outflow of water from Yeleru reservoir.

According to agriculture department officials, crops in over 16,500 acres were inundated in 16 mandals - Jaggampeta, Kajuluru, Kakinada (U), Kakinada (R) , Kirlampudi, Kotananduru, Kothapalli, Pedapudi, Gandepalli, Peddapuram, Prathipadu, Rowthulapudi, Somolkota, Thondangi, Tuni and Yeleswaram in the district. According to the data, paddy in 10,928 acres, cotton in 254 acres, black gram in 1,226 acres and other crops were inundated.

A farmer alleged that the government is giving a paltry amount through Rythu Bharosa, which is not helpful to recover from the huge loss. He said that they haven't received any compensation for the last year's loss owing to floods and rains. "Again, this year we lost our crops to floods and rains," he added.

A farmer from Peddapuram mandal, R Veerababu, criticised that officials, Ministers and MLAs and other public representatives will come and go but the woes of the farmers continue. The compensation is meagre and it cannot solve our misery, he added. He lamented that either banks or private people don't lend them for the next sowing season. Also, we cannot invest on nurseries, that were already damaged, for a second time, he noted.