ANANTAPUR (AP): Droughthit farmers of
Andhra Pradesh, who are already counting the pieces of a massive crop failure, could now end up losing their land to diamond and gold explorers.
Farmers of the diamond belt of Anantapur and gold deposit region of Kurnool, now live in fear of losing their land after Geological Survey of India (GSI) announced on December 19 that they discovered diamondiferous kimberlite rocks, which may contain diamonds in Vajrakarur in
Anantapur district
.
GSI is already running a diamond processing plant on an experimental basis in Vajrakarur and have carried out studies at Ramapuram, a nearby village. Incidentally, the state government has already declared 63 mandals in Anantapur district as drought-hit, including Vajrakarur.
At Jonnagiri in Tuggali Mandal in
Kurnool district
, India’s first private gold mine Geomysore Services India Private Limited, has already reached final stages of gold exploration, and is in the process of acquiring 350 acres of land for the open pit.
”Out of eight acres of groundnut crop, I got a yield of 30 kg per acre. Normal yield should be five to six quintals but I suffered a loss of Rs 1 lakh. The insurance claim money I got was only Rs 1190 per acre, which was taken by the bank for interest. The entire land is private patta land except for negligible parcels. We are not ready to give up our land for diamond exploration,” said G Bheem Reddy, a farmer in Vajrakarur.
J M Raju a farmer of Ganjikunta of Vajrakarur Mandal explained how GSI has been working here for several years in Vajrakaru and Rampur. “A large number of villagers come to this area a search for diamonds during first rains. We need water resources and minimum support price. We don’t want diamond and gold mines,” he added.
Geomysore has secured permission for mining in Jonnagiri Gold mine over an extent of 597.82 hectares in Jonnagiri, Pagardrayi and Erragudi villages of Tuggali Mandal of Kurnool district.
It is estimated that The Jonnagiri project, may produce about 25 000 oz/y(Ounce per year) of gold which will be quarter of India’s gold production.
Anantapur district recorded -46.8 rainfall and Vajrakarur mandal have -30.7 deficient rainfall. Tuggali Mandal in Kurnool recorded -68.4 scanty rainfall.
Jala Sadhana Samiti secretary M
Ramakrishna said sowing of groundnut has dropped from 20 lakh hectares to 10 lakh hectares. Anantapur has been facing drought since 2009.
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Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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