KADAPA: The hopes of the Rayalaseema farmers in the KC (Kurnool-Cudapah) Canal ayacut area of a good Rabi crop have been dashed with the non-availability of irrigation water from the Srisailam reservoir. With the AP government locked in a bitter fight with the Telangana government over the generation of power at the Srisailam hydel power station by the latter, the authorities concerned have not released the water from the Srisailam reservoir into the KC Canal so far.
Incidentally, the Telangana government is going ahead with the power generation at the Srisailam hydel project ignoring the curbs imposed by the Krishna Water Tribunal on the quantity of water to be used for the purpose and also the November 3 deadline to stop the same. This means that the Telangana government is also set to ignore the Dead Storage Level (DSL) of the reservoir while utilising the Srisailam project water for the power generation.
Presently, around 2.5 lakh acres are under cultivation under the KC Canal area across the two districts. The farmers had invested Rs 20,000 per acre each based on the AP government`s assurance that adequate water would be released into the KC Canal from the first week of Sept. While no water had been released so far into the Canal, there are no signs either of the authorities doing so in the near future.
Meanwhile, the two Telugu state governments, which are quarrelling over hydel power generation, are releasing the water into the sea without considering the water needs of Rayalaseema much to the dismay and annoyance of the farming community of the region.