Farmers in Telangana’s Palamuru, Nizamabad and Suryapet districts protested at electricity substations on Sunday, demanding quality and uninterrupted power supply as disruptions and inadequate canal water threatened crops during a crucial stage of cultivation.
The protests were reported at multiple locations, including the Urokonda mandal substation in Jadcherla constituency, the Adavi Mamidipalli substation in Makloor mandal of Nizamabad district and a substation in Kommala village in Suryapet. Farmers said unreliable electricity was making it difficult to protect standing crops and was increasing the financial pressure created by cultivation loans.
In Jadcherla, farmers from Urkondapeta and Jakinalapalli villages gathered at the Urokonda substation. They raised slogans, cooked food on the road and held a community lunch as part of their protest. The farmers also highlighted the shortage of canal water in the area, saying inadequate irrigation supplies were compounding the effect of power disruptions.
Urkondapeta former sarpanch Krishna Goud said farmers were facing pressure from both rising cultivation investment and the risk of losing crops. “The burden of investment costs on one hand and the anxiety of saving the crop on the other are making farmers spend sleepless nights,” he said, according to Telangana Today.
The protests in Nizamabad took place at the Adavi Mamidipalli substation in Makloor mandal. Farmers laid siege to the facility and later staged a sit-in on the Armoor-Nizamabad Highway. They raised slogans against the government and alleged that insufficient power supply had caused mounting losses for the farming community.
In Suryapet district, farmers from Kommala village protested outside the local electricity substation. They demanded at least 12 hours of quality power supply and alleged that farmers were receiving only six to eight hours of electricity a day. The protesters also referred to the Congress party’s pre-election promise of providing 24-hour quality power supply to agriculture.
The protests place electricity distribution infrastructure at the centre of a wider farming challenge in the affected districts. For farmers dependent on electrically powered irrigation, interruptions can affect the ability to operate pumps and maintain water supply to fields. In the areas cited by the protesters, the reported shortage of canal water has added another constraint to crop protection.
The concerns also have a direct financial dimension. Farmers said they had already invested in cultivation and were worried about repaying loans if power shortages and inadequate water supplies resulted in crop losses. The protests therefore combined demands for reliable electricity with complaints about irrigation availability and the economic risks faced by agricultural households.
The demonstrations were held at substations and, in Nizamabad, extended to a highway sit-in. The farmers’ immediate demands included uninterrupted or extended quality power supply, with the Suryapet protesters specifically seeking at least 12 hours a day. The report did not mention any formal response from the state government or electricity authorities to the protests.
Further developments will depend on whether the electricity authorities address the farmers’ demand for longer and more reliable supply and how the government responds to their concerns about canal water and crop losses.
