Khetavath Limbya and Buli are in their early 40s. For the past few months, they have been working in their two kuntas of land in addition to taking a couple of acres from others on lease. They hope that luck will smile on them this time, after several years. On Sunday, they went to market to sell ridge gourd harvested in their farm and earned ₹ 200. They also grow leafy vegetables like spinach and sell them after two weeks of growth.
Khetavath once used to stay at Sangareddy in Telangana and work as labourer at adda (common meeting point for labourers from where they are hired) along with his wife Buli. There were instances when it became extremely difficult for them to pay even their rent. He lost part of his land for the Singoor canals. Though he felt bad about losing his land for the canal, he is happier as the canal is now flowing along his farm and he is sure that his borewell will not dry up in the near future.
“I may not directly get water from the canal flowing here, but it surely recharges my bore. That is why I am able to lease land from others for cultivation,” Mr. Limbya told The Hindu .
Life has changed for the better for people like Limbya, his brother Khetavath Raju and several others in Andol constituency. Thanks to the push given by Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao in completing the canal works under Singoor Reservoir and committing the government to provide water for irrigation.
Same was the case with Karaboyina Satyanarayana of Minpur village. About six months ago, he used to work as a labourer in Peddapally district on canal work. But as the construction of main canals got completed under Singoor, he returned and took up cultivation. Once a labourer, he has been hiring labourers to work in his field for weed removal.
The Irrigation Department has completed 48 km of main canal and 70 km of branch canals with some work still pending.
“We hope to complete work by July-end and provide irrigation water for about 51,000 acres for kharif in 39 villages under Pulkal and Andol mandals. Though the correct number is not available, about 3,000 farmers and farm-dependent workers have migrated back to villages to take up farming,” Mr. Rao, who was at Singoor on Sunday, said.
