With no KRS water, paddy farmers bracing for the worst

Decision not to release water from dams could lead to migration or worse, suicides.

The State’s decision not to release water from Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) for paddy cultivation during the ongoing kharif season has sparked off fear that marginal farmers may be pushed to suicide or to migrate to towns seeking jobs.

On Wednesday, the government decided to utilise the water stored in KRS and Tungabhadra dams only for drinking purposes — a move that has been termed harsh by farmers here.

Of the total cultivation area of 2.48 lakh hectares in the district, KRS supplies water to at least 88,000 hectares. The total length of the waterways and their distributaries flowing in Mandya is around 1,500 km.

The farmers have already transplanted paddy seedlings in large swathes of land. The Cabinet decision could lead to a lot of losses for them, according to Agriculture Department officials.

What was said earlier

At the Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) meeting on KRS (the Cauvery command area) held in Bengaluru on July 15, it had been decided that KRS water would be discharged into the canals from July 28.

Later, the department issued instructions to farmers to begin their activities, but to grow “only one crop,” keeping the deficient rainfall in mind.

Mandya has the reputation of being the ‘rice bowl of South Karnataka’ as farmers usually cultivate a variety of paddy crops on around 80,000 hectares. However, continuous drought situations have badly hit paddy cultivation.

Over the past three years, a large number of youngsters from the district have moved to Bengaluru seeking jobs in industrial areas in Peenya and other places. Since June 2015, as many as 144 farmers have committed suicide in the district.