Farmers block rail-cum-road bridge on Godavari

Krishna and twin Godavari deltas will turn deserts if State is bifurcated

Thousands of farmers of East and West Godavari districts blocking the rail-cum-road bridge on Monday to protest against the proposed bifurcation of state. Photo: S. Rambabu

Thousands of farmers on Monday blocked rail-cum-road bridge (RCRB) across the Godavari in protest against bifurcation of State. The Samaikyandhra agitation received a boost with the farmers of the two Godavari districts marching towards the RCRB from early in the morning.

The farmers arrived on tractors, bullock- carts and bikes and held a public meeting on the bridge and gave war cry for unified State. The traffic was blocked for kilometres from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Farmers from JACs of Konaseema, East and West Godavari districts and the representatives from AP Agriculture Officers’ Association, including its State president Kamalakar Sharma, took part in the huge rally.

Konaseema Rythu JAC convener Yalla Satyanandam, campaign secretary Matta Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Addala Gopalakrishna were among those who were present in the meeting.

Farmers at the public meeting made it clear that they would not accept any option other than unified Andhra Pradesh. They found fault with the comments made some political leaders accepting bifurcation with Hyderabad as union territory.

They opined that these politicians were batting for Hyderabad only to protect their assets in the capital city.

They reiterated that Krishna and the twin Godavari deltas would become deserts if the State was bifurcated.

The farmers of the delta observed that Telangana leaders were already joining the States such as Odisha and Chhattisgarh in opposing Polavaram project and strongly felt that Polavaram project would not materialise if the State was bifurcated.

They maintained that rabi crop was surviving in Godavari delta due to water from Sileru, Sabari and Kinnersani and observed that these rivers would stay with Telangana if the State was bifurcated.

On the Food Security Bill, the farmers questioned how it was possible to implement it after Godavari and Krishna deltas turned deserts. They lamented that lakhs of agriculture workers would lose their livelihood if the State is bifurcated. They called upon the farmers of other districts to form joint action committees to fight for the cause of unified Andhra Pradesh.