Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Impact of drought on urban areas too

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR MARCH 26. The impact of the drought is also being seen in urban areas with reduced demand for products and low income to traders, speakers said at a meeting on drought conducted here today.

The reach of several products and facilities from the urban to the rural areas had also come down drastically.

The meeting was organised by students of the Rural Development and Social Work Departments of Sri Krishnadevaraya University in association with the Spandana Rythu Chaitanya Sadassu.

Speaking at the meet, well-known agro-economist, K.R. Chowdary, said wage workers of rural areas were being denied even a square meal a day in the absence of any work. Similarly, the shortage of fodder had been starving the cattle, he said.

He opined that cultivation would be a difficult task for the farmers in the next season due to continuous crop failure and lack of minimum support price for their produce. While the Government would think that drought was a result of nature's ire the fact was that the Government policies were responsible for it, he observed.

In the absence of permanent drought relief measures aspects like degradation for forest cover, inefficient water management, encroachment of natural water bodies were helping recurrence of drought very often, he observed.

Mr. Chowdary said the Government is neglecting pending irrigation projects and diversion of river waters. Spending on the irrigation sector in the State is very poor, compared to Karnataka, he pointed out.

Stating that the Government is neglecting the agriculture sector too he mentioned that while 70 per cent of the population is still dependent on agriculture, the budget allocation for the sector is very poor at 0.5 per cent of the total budget estimates.

Andhra Pradesh is at the 23rd place with regard to spending on agriculture in the country, he noted.

The Principal Scientists of ARS (ANGRAU), Y. Yellamanda Reddy, said dryland cultivation was resulting in a total loss. He suggested changes in cultivation methods like sowing only in June instead of continuing it till mid-August.

The district president of Jana Vignana Vedika, Rachapalem Chandrasekhar Reddy, Narayanaswamy of Spanada and others also spoke.

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