AP labour moves coast-ward to avoid drought

AP labour moves coast-ward to avoid drought
S RAMAKRISHNA

HYDERABAD, MAY 5: Andhra Pradesh is in the grip of one of the worst droughts in the recent years, with more than 10 lakh labour having migrated to either the Coastal districts or other States.

According to official sources, the migration is mainly from the badly hit districts in the backward Telangana and Rayalaseema region where natural water sources are limited.

With the summer peaking, the situation is fast worsening due to further depletion of groundwater table and insufficient relief that is trickling in bits and pieces from the government and other agencies.

Coupled with famine-like situation, the oppressive heat wave during the last few weeks had claimed many head of cattle and triggered labour migration.

The number of mandals which have been identified as drought-hit has gone up by 250 in just one month and most of them have not recorded any rainfall in the last 12 weeks. The groundwater levels fell by 50 to 60 ft, to a record low of 400 ft in certain areas.

Likewise, the number of villages which have no drinking water sources have gone up from 500 to 1,500 in the last few weeks. Of the total 2.5 lakh borewells in the State, at least 15,000 have gone defunct and another one lakh are not yielding sufficient water to quench the people's thirst.

In fact, people from the worst-hit districts --Anantapur, Mahaboobnagar, Rangareddy, Cuddapah, Prakasadm Nalgonda and Chittoor --have to walk for miles through agriculture fields to fetch a pot of water. In most villages, about 2,000 people are to depend on one or two borewells.

``The situation is quite serious and drinking water is the burning problem.We have released about 116.45 crore to dig more borewells as well as to transport drinking water to problematic villages,'' said State Relief Commissioner Bhaskara Prasad.

Instructions have been issued to the district collectors to transport waterto the needy villages but availability of tankers has become a major problem. ``We have asked the officials to hire vehicles to supply water to the remote villages and tribal habitations,'' Prasad said.

Sincere efforts by the government notwithstanding, dearth of funds is comingin the way of taking up relief measures in a big way. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged the Centre for sanction of Rs 750 crore but only Rs 75 crore was released so far. He has sent an SOS for Rs 500 crore more last week.

On its part, the government has so far spent about Rs 306 crore but this appears inadequate given the magnitude of the problem. Reports from 18 out of 23 districts indicated that crops worth Rs 1,540 crore were damaged and crops were not sown in about 8.6 lakh hactares causing loss of Rs 1,025crore to the farmers.

A high-level Central study team led by Union Minister of State for Agriculture SBPB Satyanarayana Rao is likely to visit the State on May 11 and 12. Significantly, the Centre is yet to announce its assistance based on the report submitted by its study team last October.

As AP has already exhausted about Rs 131.19 crore from its total allocationof Rs 147 crore under the calamity relief fund (CRF), the State is left withno option but to press for further aid under special assistance from the Centre.