RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: Bathukamma sarees have come in handy for farmers to protect their paddy from moisture. They are using the sarees to prevent moisture from entering the grains at procurement centres. They have become good substitutes for tarpaulins which are in short supply to cover or dry paddy to prevent damage in case of rain in Samudrala Lingapur in Gambhirrao pet mandal in the district.
When BJP State President Bandi Sanjay Kumar visited them on Wednesday, they told him that had the government provided protection for the paddy, they would not have used Bathukamma sarees to prevent damage to the paddy.
The farmers said that the officials who were visiting them to make an assessment of the damage to crops were recording damage as only 20 per cent even when it was up to 50 per cent. The farmers said they had not received any compensation so far from the government.
After listening to their woes, Sanajy told them that about 30 per cent of the crop raised in 1.7 lakh acres in the district had suffered 50 per cent damage. He said the authorities had made an assessment that crops on 17,000 acres had been damaged without making any field visits.
The BJP leader said that while farmers were suffering, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was all set to go to Delhi in pursuit of his political dreams. Later, he visited Rudravaram, one of the oustees’ villages of the Mid Manair reservoir.