Irrigation, rural issues to dominate Andhra polls

The heavy accent of the Telugu Desam Party's election manifesto on the issues of irrigation and rural development appears unusual at the first glance, but it actually reflects the concerns of the people of the state.

For the first time, irrigation and rural development have become major issues in the state.

Earlier the issues of infrastructure and rural development were restricted to the backward Rayalaseema and Telangana regions of the state where a majority of farmers depended on the monsoon for their crops.

Leaders from these two regions were quick to point out the lack of irrigation facilities for low development in the region.

But now, irrigation has become an equally serious issue in the coastal Andhra Pradesh, because of low volume of water in the Krishna river from Karnataka, due to the projects in the river's upper catchment areas and lack of rain over successive years.

"Delta farmers in the Krishna belt have, for the first time, seen drying wells. Farmers under the canal ayacut of this region have had to undergo a kind of forced crop holiday for at least three seasons. Earlier they used to raise the paddy crop," a political observer said.

"This has coincided with the rising aspirations of farmers in the Telangana and Rayalaseema regions where the feeling of neglect already existed even in areas where there was assured irrigation. Drought conditions over the past three to four years have worsened the situation," he points out.

On one hand, farmers of Mahaboobnagar (Telangana) and Kurnool (Rayalaseema) took to the streets over the issue of water in the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme(RDS).