Raichur sources have stated that the State government’s decision to not release water for paddy and other water-intensive crops in the Cauvery and Tungabhadra basins may have angered farmers in the irrigated belt, but the problem of farmers in the tail-end areas of the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC) is an old one that has gone without redress.
It is stated that every year, very little water flows down to several parts of Raichur district, which are supposed to be irrigated by the TLBC and of around 4 lakh acres in Sindhanur, Sirwar and Yermarus canal divisions of the Tungabhadra project that fall at the lower reaches of TLBC and only half has seen sowing of chili, cotton and other crops and transplantation of paddy.
Meanwhile the logbook which was maintained at the nearby outpost revealed that the water level at the point in question was zero ft till midweek, which had gone up slightly following release of large quantities of water from the dam.
D. Veerana Gowda, a leader of Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha, has said that as a result, over 2 lakh acres of authorized lands in lower reaches of the canal in Manvi, Raichur, and parts of Sindhanur taluks in Raichur district are deprived of their legitimate share of water.
