Karnataka paddy farmers seek 2 tmcft of water on loan from Andhra Pradesh's Tungabhadra share

Paddy farmers in Karnataka are battling a severe water shortage and drought. Farmers and rice mill owners of Kalyana Karnataka have now made an unusual demand: that water be given to them as a loan so that the kharif crop in the Tungabhadra region can be saved.

They want 2 tmcft of water to be released to Karnataka's farmers between November 20 and December. The water would be taken from Andhra Pradesh's 4 tmcft share from the Tungabhadra reservoir, meaning half of the 4 tmcft fixed for Andhra Pradesh would go to Karnataka's paddy fields.

The proposal also says how the loan would be repaid. After the kharif season ends, Karnataka would repay it by releasing 2 tmcft from its other large reservoirs, such as the Almatti dam, or from other sources in the Krishna basin.

Farmers say that because of the water shortage, up to 80 per cent of the crop in the state's main paddy-growing areas is on the verge of being completely lost. Ahead of a meeting scheduled for Saturday with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, farmers said that if the government does not ensure water supply by December 15, 80 per cent of the standing paddy could be lost.

The stakes are high. More than six lakh farmers have invested Rs 40,000 an acre in paddy, which puts Rs 2,500 crore worth of crop standing in the fields. Hanumanagowda Dalgurki, former chairman of the Karnataka Agricultural Prices Commission, said: "Our demand is that the government give up 2 tmcft of the 4 tmcft of water proposed for Andhra Pradesh."

Kalyana Karnataka, which lies in the Krishna and Tungabhadra basins, produces 70 to 75 lakh metric tonnes of rice a year. Of this, 60 per cent comes from the Tungabhadra irrigation area, which includes Raichur, Koppal, Vijayanagara and Ballari. The Almatti reservoir has plenty of water, so areas dependent on Krishna water do not face the risk of losses. However, paddy cultivation in the Tungabhadra region has fallen by 50 per cent.

Savitri Purushottam, president of the Karnataka State Rice Mill Association, said: "If the government ensures water supply by the first week of December, paddy will arrive in the market and prices will remain stable."

Inflation is already making life hard for the common man, with everything from onions to sugar having become costlier. Rice is now next. For the first time in Karnataka, the price of rice is on the verge of reaching Rs 100 a kg.