KARIMNAGAR/KHAMMAM/SANGAREDDY: Three farmers committed suicides due to crop loss in separate incidents in Khammam, Karimnagar and Sangareddy. While a debt-ridden farmers lost his crop to unseasonal rain, two others incurred loss due to the dry spell.
Suddala Gangaiah (40), a farmer committed suicide at Raghampet in Choppadandi mandal of Karimnagar district. He hanged himself near a well in his fields in the wee hours of Sunday.
According to sources, paddy on Gangaiah’s two acre field withered in the heat. He had made repeated efforts to dig a well in his field but he found no water. As a result, he sank into a debt of Rs 8.50 lakh.
To clear the loans, he had even sold 20 guntas of land and cleared Rs 3.5 lakh debt.
However, the loan caused him much anxiety which compounded with the agony of water scarcity and wilting crops. In the he decided to end his life. He is survived by wife Padma and two children. His wife has lodged a complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, knowing about the incident Choppadandi MLA Be Shobha visited their house and consoled the farmer’s family.
In another incident in Khammam, a cotton farmer ended his life by consuming pesticide at his house in Punukula village in Palvoncha mandal on Sunday.
According to sources, Neerudu Madhava Rao (43), a resident of Punukula village, cultivated cotton crop on four acres of land by investing lakhs of rupees. The crop were damaged in the recent rains in the region. He owes Rs 3 lakh to several moneylenders.
Depressed over the loss he incurred, he killed himself when his family was busy in the Ganesh immersion prcession. After returning home, the shocked family rushed him to a government hospital in Kothagudem. The farmer died while undergoing treatment. He is survived by his wife Lakshmi, a son and a daughter.
In Sangareddy, farmer Kummari Siddiramulu (23) committed suicide by grabbing onto a live electric wire at Darpally village of Chinna Shankarampet mandal.
SI U Nagesh said Siddiramulu raised maize on an acre of land which dried in the torrid climate. He took Rs 3 lakh debts for irrigation and digging a borewell but in vain. Apart from the debts, he was nursing his handicapped brother and old parents. Unable to bear the financial burdens, the young farmer took his life, his family said.
Based on his father’s complaint Kummari Mallaiah, police registered a case and investigation is on.
Kavitha to Donate Rs 6L to Farmers’ Kin
After starting a campaign to adopt distressed farmers, Nizamabad MP K Kavitha on Sunday announced that she would donate her entire annual salary for the welfare of the kin of farmers who committed suicide in the state. In effect, she would give away `6 lakh in donation towards the victim families at the end of the year. An MP draws `50,000 per month as salary besides other perks and allowances. Kavitha, in a release said the Telangana Jagruthi’s initiative seeking support from celebrities and prominent persons of the society, to help farmers was getting tremendous response. In line with this, Smart Training Resource India Limited directors Lavanya Ram and Ram donated `1 lakh to Kavitha towards the initiative.