VIJAYAWADA:
Gorla Keshava Reddy
, a groundnut farmer from
Yerragunta
village in Rapthadu mandal of parched
Anantapur
district, had never seen so much water in his life. Standing at the Krishna western main canal near Prakasam barrage here on Monday, Keshava Reddy gushed, "So much water!"
"It feels so good to see water. From where I come the land is parched. I am 48 years old and I have never seen this much quantum of water," Keshava Reddy exclaimed. For some one from Anantapur where drought is perennial, Keshava Reddy's child-like excitement is understandable. Reddy was here along with 50 farmers from Anantapur district to study the Krishna delta canal system, which is the lifeline for 13 lakh acres in Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts. "If only we were as lucky to be born in this region. The face of Anantapur will change even if we get less than quarter of this water. We could have provided employment to 100 people per acre if we had a resource like this," pointed out G Aswartha Naidu of Gandlaparthy village.
Agreeing with Naidu, Sake Venkatesh, farmer and sarpanch of Yerragunta, said he had lost his yield in eight of his 10 acres due to non-availability of water. Reddy, Naidu and Venkatesh are among the lakhs of farmers in Rayalaseema who lost 80 per cent of their crop due to drought.