VIJAYAWADA: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday slammed the YSRC government for not issuing cyclone warnings to the farmers in advance to reduce crop damages in the State. He asserted that it is the responsibility of the government to come to the rescue of the farmers and poor families who were badly hit by the Nivar Cyclone.
Addressing a meeting of party leaders, the TDP chief said reports on damages after the heavy rains were submitted to the Central teams recently. “Due to the Nivar Cyclone, crops in 5 lakh acres in 300 mandals of 10 districts are submerged in rainwater. Paddy, cotton, chilli, tobacco, groundnut, banana, mango and other crops are either completely or partially damaged, leaving the farmers in a state of shock,” he observed.
Naidu stressed the need for extending immediate relief to the affected farmers so as to enable them to switch to Rabi crops without much problems. “The chief minister and other ministers are asking the farmers to wait till February for compensation, which reflects this government’s negligence of the farmers’ plight,” he said, and added that the negligence of the ruling party leaders is pushing the people of the State into a grave and deeper crisis each day.
“During the previous TDP regime, advance study used to be made on weather changes, cyclones, heavy rains, untimely rains and lightning. All such information was passed on to the people. At that time, the Real-Time Governance System played a crucial role in times of natural calamities. But, now all such useful systems are undermined, and the safety and welfare of the people are disregarded,” he alleged.