KURNOOL: Kurnool district continues to face a severe labour migration crisis, with over thousands of families reportedly migrating each year to cities such as Guntur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bellary, and Vijayawada in search of livelihood.
The Officials and local leaders attribute this trend to chronic water scarcity and insufficient irrigation infrastructure, particularly in drought-prone mandals like Adoni, Kodumur, Pattikonda, Alur, Mantralayam, Yemmiganur and Panyam.
Due to scanty rainfall and limited local employment opportunities, villagers are often compelled to leave their homes throughout the year. The situation is particularly dire in rural areas, where agriculture and daily living are deeply impacted by the lack of access to drinking and irrigation water.
The Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) canal is considered a critical solution, but experts say the existing structure lacks necessary sluices and field channels to effectively serve nearby communities.
The canal irrigates under 30,000 acres—far below its designed capacity of 80,000 acres. Without immediate infrastructure upgrades, including sluices, distress migration is expected to persist.
MLAs from the affected assembly constituencies raised the issue at the recent District Review Committee (DRC) meeting, demanding the urgent construction of sluices along various channels of the HNSS canal. The widening of the canal—underway at a cost of Rs 680 crore is expected to increase its carrying capacity from 1,680 to 3,850 cusecs within 30 days.
While speaking to TNIE, Pathikonda MLA Shyam Babu said, ‘‘Ongoing works are very speedy so there is urgent need for water infrastructure like construction of sluices along with various channels during the widening works to curb labour migration in Kurnool District’’.
A formal proposal at the DRC meeting identifies 18 locations for sluices, benefiting several villages and irrigating thousands of acres in the district.