Farmer rides bike on parched paddy field in Manthani protest
Farmers in Manthani mandal of Telangana's Peddapalli district said erratic power supply was leaving their crops to dry up. Naramalla Sravan Kumar of Khanapur village protested by riding his motorcycle across his cracked paddy field. Farmers said that despite the Kaleshwaram project and Godavari river being nearby, their fields get no irrigation water, and poor power quality is burning out borewell motors, adding to costs. They urged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu to ensure uninterrupted quality supply.
Source
Peddapalli — వార్తలు · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (5)
- Farmer Naramalla Sravan Kumar of Khanapur village rode a motorcycle across his cracked paddy field in protest. — Described in source as the reporter's account of the protest; named individual, no independent corroboration.
- Erratic power supply is leaving borewell-irrigated crops without water and causing fields to dry up. — Attributed to the farmers; no discom or official data given.
- Poor quality power supply is burning out borewell motors, adding financial burden. — Farmers' claim as stated in the source; no figures or technical confirmation provided.
- Despite proximity to the Kaleshwaram project and Godavari river, fields receive no irrigation water. — Attributed to farmers; no official irrigation department comment in source.
- Farmers appealed to CM Revanth Reddy and local MLA and state minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu for uninterrupted quality power. — Appeal reported in source; no response from the named leaders included.
Analysts’ view opinion
This looks like one farmer's protest, but the economics behind it are straightforward: where canal irrigation does not reach the field, the cost of farming shifts onto borewells and therefore onto the quality of the power supply. Farmers saying that water is not reaching them despite being close to the Kaleshwaram project and the Godavari points to a gap between money spent on infrastructure and benefit delivered at the field level. The loss is double — the sunk crop investment on one side, and replacing or repairing burnt-out motors on the other.
- In a season with deficient rain, power interruptions on borewell-dependent farms convert directly into yield loss and an immediate hit to farm income.
- Poor-quality supply burning out motors adds a capital expense on top of the crop loss — a second blow to the same household.
- If investments running into lakhs dry up in the field, the burden persists as debt, meaning this season's loss also erodes next season's borrowing capacity.
- Being next to a major irrigation project and a river while still depending on bores suggests the returns on costly infrastructure are not fully landing at the last mile.
- Farm pumpset power ultimately sits on discom finances and state subsidy accounts, so supply quality is a fiscal and policy question as much as an agricultural one.
What to watch — Watch whether this demand spreads from one village to mandal or district level, whether feeder-level supply hours visibly improve, and whether crop-loss assessment or compensation enters the conversation.
The story does not establish how much area is affected, how many motors have burnt out, or what is causing the interruptions, and it carries no official or discom response.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 3 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
Farmers in Manthani mandal of Peddapalli district, Telangana, say erratic and poor-quality power supply is crippling borewell irrigation, leaving standing paddy to dry up amid deficient rainfall. A farmer from Khanapur village, Naramalla Sravan Kumar, dramatised the distress by riding his motorcycle across his cracked, parched paddy field. The farmers note the irony that despite the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project and the Godavari river being nearby, their fields receive no canal irrigation water. They have appealed to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and local MLA and State Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu for uninterrupted, quality supply.
Key facts
- Farmers of Manthani mandal, Peddapalli district (Telangana), protested that crops are drying up because electricity supply is irregular.
- Naramalla Sravan Kumar of Khanapur village protested by riding his bike across his own paddy field, showing it was dry enough to drive on.
- Farmers cited two simultaneous problems: rainfall below expected levels and interruptions in power supply.
- Despite the Kaleshwaram project and the Godavari river being close by, farmers say no irrigation water reaches their fields.
- Cultivation here depends on borewells; without steady power, water does not reach crops and fields dry out.
- Poor-quality power is burning out motors fitted to borewells, imposing an additional financial burden on farmers.
- Farmers said they had invested lakhs of rupees; if crops dry up, their debt burden will rise further.
- Demand made to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and local MLA and State Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu for uninterrupted, quality power supply.
Timeline
- Not dated in the source (current cropping season)Deficient rainfall and power interruptions leave Manthani mandal paddy fields without water.
- Not dated in the sourceBorewell motors burn out due to poor-quality supply, adding costs for farmers.
- Day of the reportFarmer Naramalla Sravan Kumar rides his motorcycle on his parched paddy field as a novel protest; farmers appeal to the CM and Minister Sridhar Babu.
Who has a stake
- Farmers of Manthani mandal, Peddapalli district — Standing paddy crop, lakhs of rupees of investment and rising debt if crops dry up.
- Naramalla Sravan Kumar, Khanapur village — His paddy field has dried and cracked; he led the bike protest to draw attention.
- Chief Minister Revanth Reddy (Telangana) — Petitioned to ensure uninterrupted, quality power supply for agriculture.
- Duddilla Sridhar Babu, local MLA and State Minister — Constituency-level responsibility to address power and irrigation grievances.
- State power utility / distribution system — Supply quality blamed for motor burnouts and crop loss; reliability under question.
- Kaleshwaram project authorities — Project is nearby but farmers say water is not reaching their fields, raising questions on last-mile delivery.
Why it matters
Free or subsidised farm power is the backbone of borewell irrigation in Telangana, so supply quality directly decides whether a crop survives. The protest highlights a last-mile gap: a major lift irrigation project and the Godavari flow nearby, yet fields depend on groundwater and an unreliable grid, pushing farmers deeper into debt.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- Manthani mandal lies in Peddapalli district, Telangana.
- Kaleshwaram project is a lift irrigation project on the Godavari river in Telangana.
- Revanth Reddy is the Chief Minister of Telangana named in the story.
- Duddilla Sridhar Babu is the local MLA and a State Minister cited by the farmers.
- Borewell-based paddy cultivation makes farm output directly dependent on quality electricity supply.
- Poor voltage/power quality can burn out pumpset motors, raising farmers' input costs.
Mains framing
The Manthani protest illustrates how agricultural distress in Telangana arises from the interaction of three variables: rainfall deficiency, incomplete last-mile irrigation delivery, and unreliable power for groundwater pumping. Even where a major lift irrigation scheme like Kaleshwaram and a perennial source like the Godavari are physically close, farmers report no canal water reaching their fields, pushing them onto borewells; this makes the quality of electricity, not merely its availability or price, the decisive input. Poor supply quality adds a second cost layer by burning out pump motors, while a failed paddy crop converts lakhs of rupees of investment into debt, as the farmers themselves warn. The way forward suggested by the stakeholders in the source is limited and specific: assured uninterrupted and quality supply to agricultural feeders, which implies attention to distribution infrastructure and voltage stability alongside completing the field-level irrigation network so that groundwater dependence is reduced. The episode also shows the role of symbolic protest, such as riding a bike across a cracked paddy field, in forcing administrative attention to localised service-delivery failures.
Key terms
- Kaleshwaram project
- Major lift irrigation project on the Godavari in Telangana; located near these villages but farmers say its water does not reach their fields.
- Mandal
- Administrative sub-district unit in Telangana; Manthani is a mandal in Peddapalli district.
- Borewell irrigation
- Drawing groundwater through motor-driven bores, entirely dependent on electricity supply.
- Power quality
- Stability of voltage and supply; poor quality is blamed for burning out borewell motors.
- Peddapalli district
- District in Telangana where Manthani mandal and Khanapur village are located.
Practice questions
- Why does reliable and good-quality electricity supply matter as much as water availability for groundwater-irrigated agriculture? Discuss with reference to the Manthani case.
- Large lift irrigation projects can exist alongside farmers' complaints of no water. Examine the last-mile challenges in canal irrigation delivery.
- Assess how input cost shocks, such as burnt-out pumpsets and crop failure, translate into farm indebtedness, and suggest remedies.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.