The Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham (APRS) demanded that the government save standing crops spread over lakhs of acres by making judicious use of the water available in irrigation projects and supplying power to the fields without any interruption, and pay compensation to the farmers for the loss incurred by them due to adverse weather in recent months.
APRS State president V. Krishnaiah and secretary K. Prabhakar Reddy said the storage in reservoirs was barely 50% and that coal stocks at thermal power plants were enough for just about three days.
This caused an alarming situation to be dealt with urgently by the government, lest the crisis in the farm sector should aggravate. The government must come out with a well thought-out action plan by consulting all the political parties to have the drought under control, they suggested.