Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy, president of Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samithi, has said the recurring drought in Rayalaseema region is a man-made problem.
Addressing a series of meetings during his ‘tractor yatra’ as part of the awakening programme on the sixth day of his tour at Laddagiri, Gorantla and Venkatagiri in the district on Thursday, he said prolonged neglect of irrigation projects in the region had resulted in recurring droughts.
Also, the age-old tank irrigation system created during Vijayanagara empire got defunct with no repairs taken up. The failure on the irrigation front had resulted in drop in agriculture production which affected every sphere of society. The government, which promised Krishna water for Rayalaseema, failed to keep its word. The region was not adequately compensated for loss of capital.
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Mr. Rajasekhar Reddy said Rayalaseema was broken into pieces on account of formation of Andhra State with Bellary going to Karnataka and losing Giddalur, Cumbhum and Yarragondapalem to Coastal Andhra.
The region, which treated diamonds as pebbles, was struggling to feed its hungry mouths.
He said the ‘tractor yatra’ was meant for creating awareness about the causes for backwardness and the impending danger in the wake of Telangana struggle and wily manoeuvres of TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
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