Blackout in the parched Fields

Siddaveerappa shudders at the thought of a long, dark winter ahead. With massive power shortage plaguing Karnataka, power supply has dwindled to a paltry two to three hours a day. This means farmers like Siddaveerappa – most of whom use pump sets and bore wells – have no water to irrigate their land, which translates into a diminished agricultural yield and perhaps loss of livelihood. Despite numerous assurances of the government, the power situation is yet to improve.

“Our yield is decreasing by the day and we don’t even have seeds to sow in the next season. The kharif (monsoon) crop yield was paltry due to shortage of rain, but now even the rabi (winter) crop will be ruined due to these long and frequent load sheddings. If it continues like this, we won’t even have enough crop to feed ourselves,” rues Siddaveerappa from Holalkere, Chitradurga, where farmers like him depend largely on rain-fed crops. The failure of kharif crop has left them with very less seeds to sow. Now with long power cuts cutting into their supply of irrigational water, the future appears bleak.....Continue

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