Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has officially requested the state’s agrarian community to defer one seasonal crop cycle, particularly the water-intensive Yasangi (Rabi) paddy cultivation, citing the unprecedented El Niño climate phenomenon. The first-of-its-kind directive is meant to preserve water for drinking purposes as well as power. The appeal has triggered protests from the farming community and attacks from rivals who have accused the government of putting the burden of an expected climate phenomenon on farmers.
The chief minister said at a press conference Thursday that when a “natural disaster” strikes, it is everyone’s duty to come together. “We have to think beyond politics and join our hands on mission mode so no one is left behind. So, we can take care of everyone. Save water, save power. This is our magic mantra.”
“During Covid, we had masks, lockdowns and social distancing until we got vaccines. Just like that, we have to follow the ‘save water, save power’ mantra till it rains again in July 2027,” he said.
Reddy said the state’s collective reservoir levels have plummeted to just 200 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) against the normal storage of 462 TMC, forcing the administration to prioritise drinking water over agriculture.
“The next 10 months will be very difficult because of the El Niño situation, and it has created immense pressure on the water and power situation in Telangana. I request all my farmer brothers and sisters in the state to defer one crop this farming season. Only then can we secure drinking water. You have given us food whenever we needed it; please give us some water too,” the CM said.
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy joined the CM as he read out discouraging statistics on the water availability in the Krishna and Godavari. The state’s reservoirs are depleted, with Krishna basin reservoirs being water deficient by 72 per cent, and water levels in Godavari reservoirs depleted by 42 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year.
According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society, the cumulative rainfall from 1 June to 1 October was 615.6 mm against the normal of 746.3 mm, a deviation of -18 per cent.
Farmers have planted paddy across 53 lakh acres, down by around 13 lakh acres from the previous season. The CM, however, said the state’s water situation wasn’t conducive for paddy plantation over the next 8 to 10 months. He appealed that farmers should instead shift to horticulture crops or palm oil.
The declaration has sent shockwaves through Telangana’s rural heartland, leaving the farming community deeply upset.
From Khammam in the south to Adilabad in the north, farmers across the state held protests Friday, with some burning standing crops and others burning effigies of the chief minister.
About 70.60 lakh land-owning farmers in Telangana have more than 70.5 lakh holdings where agricultural production takes place, according to the 11th Agriculture Census (2021-22) released by the Telangana Directorate of Economics and Statistics.
In Khammam, farmers who leased farmland shouted slogans against the government for failing to implement the Rythu Bharosa scheme.
“This (the CM’s appeal) is a devastating betrayal that threatens our economic revival. We were explicitly promised uninterrupted power by the government, and now, this sudden decree to leave our lands fallow is a travesty. These promises were made by Rahul Gandhi at the Rythu Sangharshana Sabha,” Vissa Kiran of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha Telangana said.
The farmers’ union was referring to the ‘Warangal Declaration’, a 34-point charter of promises for the farm sector announced by the Indian National Congress in May 2022, a year ahead of the assembly election in 2023. Also known as the Rythu Declaration, the promises included a farm loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh and a new crop insurance scheme of Rs 5 lakh, the reopening of the Nizam Sugar Factory, and farm investment support of Rs 15,000 per acre per farmer every sowing season.
However, the Congress government has come under heavy criticism from the opposition for failing to fully implement the 34 promises. The alleged issues range from delays or restrictions in crop procurement, pending Rythu Bharosa payments, and unmet loan waiver expectations.
So far, the Revanth Reddy-led government has missed sanctioning at least four Rythu Bandhu instalments across various crop seasons in Telangana.
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The administration ‘failed’
Political analysts and other farm unions across different regions argue that the extreme measure proposed by the chief minister exposes a complete collapse of planning and governance in the Congress government.
“El Niño has not struck Telangana alone. Despite months of clear warning from national and global meteorological organisations regarding the phenomenon, the administration failed to secure alternative power allocations, neglected critical water-sharing infrastructure, and delayed implementing essential drought mitigation protocols,” Kondapally Sridhar Reddy, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Kisan Morcha in Telangana, told ThePrint.
Critics in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi maintain that by shifting the entire burden of El Niño onto the shoulders of vulnerable farmers, the government is using a predictable climate phenomenon to mask its own “absolute systemic failures and infrastructural paralysis”.
“Revanth Reddy’s tenure as chief minister has been about targeting the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS) and releasing water from the reservoirs only to spite us (BRS). Today, every promise made to the farmer remains unfulfilled, with the government unable to pay the MSP even to buy the Kharif crop,” said T. Harish Rao, who served as irrigation minister during the BRS regime.
What has aggrieved the farmers further is the state government being non-committal on any financial assistance for horticulture crops or compensation for loss of income.
The CM only outlined that agricultural labourers who are impacted by this would be compensated through the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) scheme, without stating the specifics. “Through VB-G RAM G, we will focus on irrigation and nala work, so when the rains come, we will be better equipped to deal with this problem if it ever happens again,” the chief minister told the press conference.
However, M. Kodanda Reddy, the vice-president of the Congress-affiliated All India Kisan Congress, said he was confident of the state government announcing additional benefits for the farmers. “The CM is holding an all-party meet soon in the state, and the issue of farmers’ livelihood will also be discussed. In addition, a delegation of senior ministers will be visiting Delhi to request the Centre for special assistance because more than 75 per cent of the state is drought-hit.”
The BJP and the BRS also demanded a strategy to combat the power issues in the state.
Data shared by the Deputy CM and power minister Bhatti Vikramarka shows that power demand and consumption has gone up significantly this year. While usually the power consumption in October is around 15,000 MW, this year it is over 20,000 MW, according to the Dy CM.
BJP’s Sridhar asked why the government did not foresee this. “The CM says that there is no power available in the market even for Rs 15 per unit. Why did the state government not foresee this problem, since all the neighbouring states have already lined up power purchase agreements (PPAs) with private and government-owned generators?”
With the Dy CM admitting last week that the state-owned Singareni Collieries is facing a shortage of coal stocks, the political heat continues to remain high as the winter sets in.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)