Water woes worsen for Mandya farmers as canals dry up, resort to tanker irrigation

Mandya ; The aftermath of recent rains in the state has left canals in Mandya district drying up, leading to distress among farmers grappling with a severe water crisis. In the Koppa Hobli area of Maddur taluk, farmers are resorting to water tankers to salvage their crops, employing desperate measures to irrigate their fields.

Koppa Hobli, situated at the tail end of the KRS reservoir catchment area, faces delays of 10 to 12 days for water released from the dam to reach the canals. Once the water reaches the area, it depletes within two or three days. Officials, following a customary practice, have halted water flow for 15 days, causing the crops cultivated on borrowed loans to wither. Faced with this dire situation, farmers in Maharnavami Doddi and Gudidoddi villages are turning to 8 tankers every 15 days, incurring costs of Rs 800-1,000 per tanker for essential water supply.

Expressing their frustrations, farmers highlighted the government's promise to supply water farmers and also to Tamil Nadu, stating that they initiated crop cultivation based on this commitment. However, the government failed to fulfill its promise to local farmers, leading to the current predicament. Farmers are now grappling with mounting debts, and their plea is for immediate action from concerned ministers and government intervention, urging for compensation and relief.

In a parallel incident, Basavaraddeppa Hanasi, a farmer from Yarehanchinala village in Kukanur taluk of Koppal district, resorted to extraordinary measures to save his crops. Facing the brunt of delayed rains, Hanasi watered his parched land, where peppermint crops were wilting, by manually fetching water from a nearby lake in a desperate bid to salvage the dying vegetation.