Neglected and Parched

We would like to add to the perceptive paper “Irrigation in Telangana: The Rise and Fall of Tanks”, by Gautam Pingle (EPW, 25 June 2011).

While agreeing with Pingle’s views, we would like to emphasise that there has been a drastic relative decline in the share of government-funded irrigation in Telangana since 1956-57. In fact, the topography and rainfall pattern makes tank irrigation ideal, but it has been neglected resulting in a decline from 5,30,565 ha in 1956-57 to 2,18,124 ha in 2005-09. Canal irrigated area in Telangana has decreased in the period 2001-05 to 2004-05 by 53% or 1,31,887 ha. Thus, the neglect of the agricultural sector in general and irrigation, in particular, in this region by successive rulers has culminated in a spate of suicides by farmers. While the groundwater table has fallen, the cost of cultivation is rising in the wake of a low minimum support price. The high expenditure on private irrigation sources, the low share of institutional credit, and high dependence on the market for inputs especially in the dry land areas have been clearly brought out in other studies.