ANANTAPUR: The Central team inspected some of the drought-affected fields and the crops in the district on Wednesday. The inter-ministerial team comprising Amith Chakravarthi and Mukesh Kumar came here on road from Bangalore.
They inspected the withered groundnut crop in the field owned by Nandu Gangayya at Kottapalli village in Maallapalli panchayat. Later, they also inspected the withered jasmine crop. The Central team members went around the photo exhibition which illustrated the enormity of drought situation.
Later, addressing the farmers, the Central team members said that they would submit their report to the Central government at the earliest. A farmer Gangi Reddy told them that there are 54 borewells in the village but water is available in only four of them. Due to depletion of underground water resources, borewells have dried up, they told the team members.
A farmer Bhaskar Reddy told them that he invested Rs 20,000 to raise grounduet crop in his one-and-a-half acres land but the yield was only 30 KG. He sold it away as fodder for Rs 2,000. Later, the Central team held an interactive session with workers near Penukonda town. They sought an increase of MGNREG workdays from 150 to 200.