Small farmers of the district expressed strong resentment at the attempts being made by the State government to divert water to meet the drinking water needs of Tuni in neighbouring East Godavari district while failing to provide water for irrigation to the ayacut farmers under the Tandava reservoir.
The farmers, under the leadership of Telugu Desam leaders Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu, Chengala Venkata Rao, Vechalapu Srirammurthy and Water Users Association representatives, submitted a memorandum to the district Collector protesting against the ‘injustice'.
The extent of ayacut under the Tandava reservoir was 51,465 acres but since the construction of the reservoir till date not even 40,000 acres were being provided water. The farmers in the remaining 12,000 acres were suffering losses due to crop failure. They wondered as to how the government which failed to provide water to the ayacut farmers divert it to the neighbouring district?
The farmers noted that their representations to the Irrigation Department on several occasions in the past to provide drinking water to the rehabilitated villages of Madhavanagaram and Gandhinagaram were rejected by the officials on the plea that diversion of water for drinking purposes would affect the ayacut farmers. When that was the case how could the officials provide drinking water to East Godavari district without fulfilling the irrigation needs of the ayacut farmers, they asked. A Hyderabad-based contractor had dumped hundred lorry loads of cement pipes at the irrigation site of Tandava Reservoir, obviously for diversion of the water. The irrigation officials, however, said they had no orders on diversion of water. Mr. Ayyanna Patrudu took strong exception to the decision of the Government without the consent of the ayacut farmers and the resolution of the Water Users Association. He demanded that the decision to divert the water to East Godavari should be withdrawn.
