Congress leaders led by MLA S.A. Sampath Kumar on Monday staged a dharna and addressed a gathering of people at Sindhanur of Aijaw mandal of Mahabubnagar district, demanding immediate repair to the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) and bring the entire ayacut of 87,000 acres in Telangana under the plough by providing water.
Leaders including Mohd. Ali Shabbir (Legislative Council) and K. Jana Reddy (Assembly) lashed out at the ‘lethargic’ approach of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in handling the alarming drought situation.
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They regretted that in the current situation, less than 30,000 acres were getting water for the crops under the RDS, an inter-State project between Karnataka and Telangana.
They also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for meeting all Chief Ministers just before the onset of the monsoon and termed the move ‘meaningless and ridiculous’.
They pointed out that Mr. Rao was meeting Mr. Modi only after farmers had four consecutive crops.
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Opposition warns
Mr. Jana Reddy said the Opposition had always been cautioning Government about the worst-drought to hit the State, but instead of initiating steps to minimise the impact of adverse climatic conditions, Mr. Rao continued to be busy pursuing politics.
The Congress leaders said it was sad that once in three to four hours, one farmer took the extreme step of committed suicide unable to retrieve any yield from the crop sown.