'Alert on water shortage came after sowing began'

 Farmers in the Cauvery basin, who are staring at losing their standing crops, seem to have lost trust in the administrative machinery and officials.

They blame the government for not alerting them on time that they should not go in for sowing this season. They say neither the Water Resources nor the Agriculture department officials visited their villages to guide or advise them.

Interaction with a cross-section of farmers in the districts of Tumakuru and Hassan for whom the Cauvery River and its tributaries form the lifeline, reveals that there was gross failure of the communication machinery of the government.

Low storage levels in the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin - Hemavathi, KRS, Harangi and Kabini - prompted the government to stop release of water for agriculture in August. But, by that time  majority of the farmers had already commenced sowing.

G N Krishnamurthy, a farmer of Gangura in Holenarasipura taluk in Hassan district said he went in for sowing paddy and potato in his two-acre plot in June, something he has been practicing for the last 36 years. His plot falls at the 31st km point of the Hemavathi Right Bank Canal starting from the Hemavathi dam.

“Noticing water flow in the canal, we stated sowing. Nobody told us that water will not be supplied for agricultural purposes. No official visited us”, he says.  His neighbour G Ramu agrees with him.  “We were neither told not to depend on rains. There is no way out for us even for those with borewell acess as groundwater has totally depleted”, he says.

Subbaraya Gowda, executive engineer, Hemavathi dam, Holenarisipura  Zone, says an advisory that water will not be supplied for agricultural purposes was issued on time. Asked the date on which the advisory was issued, Gowda said he will have to check the register. Upstream in Arakalgud taluk, farmers of Byachanahalli point out that water was released in the canals between August 12 and September 17.

The Water Resources department had meant that the water was to fill up tanks for drinking water purpose under multi-village scheme. There was no channel of communication with the farmers, who utilised the water for cultivation . The result: the fields in Byachanahalli still look green. But it is deceptive, the crops will wilt within a week.

Being at the tail-end of the Hemavathi Left Bank canal, the distributory canals in Gubbi taluk of Tumkuru district remained dry last year. However, rains had come to their rescue. This year with 49% deficit rainfall, farmers who had sowed especially maize and jowar have already lost their crops.

Mahalingaiah of Vadaluru village in the taluk said there were no alerts about deficient rainfall nor that they should abstain from agriculture.

Majority of the farmers are now unemployed and spending the money they have saved. They are dependent on foodgrains provided under the Anna Bhagya scheme.

However, the interaction with farmers brought out an interesting facet - they do not want crop compensation, water is more precious to them. Doddappa, a farmer said there is nothing more miserable than witnessing crops wilt. “It is like our children passing away in front of us. Money can’t compensate our losses”, he says.