Acute water shortage forces Andhra farmers to sell cattle

Acute drought conditions followed by shortage of fodder is forcing farmers to resort to distress sale of the cattle in various districts of Andhra Pradesh. With no water for drinking purposes or farming, people are hoping the government will soon come for their rescue.

Ramalinga Reddy, a farmer in Madanapalli village of Chittoor district, is worried as in 2015 his ground nut crop failed and this year too, his fields are nothing but a barren piece of land. With no sign of rainfall, he was forced to sell his three cows at throw away prices.

"My crop has dried up. There is no water, no grass. What can I do. I sold my cattle as I cannot feed them. At least the money I got will help my family in some way," Ramalinga said.

This is a story of almost all the districts in the state. Cattle are being sold away to slaughter houses due to scarcity of fodder across districts of Andhra Pradesh. There is no water in underground bore wells. Villagers wait for hours in queues even for a small bucket of water.

"We don't have water in our villages, neither farming nor drinking. Life is very difficult. Chandrababu Naidu is not fulfilling his promise," said Ramaiya, another farmer in the village.

In 2015, the Andhra Pradesh government had declared 196 mandals out of 670 mandals, as drought-affected. In 2016 too, the situation remains the same.