Beer, not paddy, matters for Cong

As farmers seek irrigation water, govt backs breweries

- T KARNAKAR REDDY

Farmers and paddy can wait, but not beer. That appears to be the approach of the Congress government in Telangana when it comes to making alternative arrangements for water supply in connection with the repair works being taken up on Singur Dam here.

Even as farmers dependent on over 65,000 acres in the Singur ayacut for their livelihood have been protesting and demanding alternative arrangements for both drinking and irrigation water, the State has neither made any announcement nor made any effort to reach out to farmers hit by the crop holiday announced in connection with the Singur repair works. However, it revealed its priorities on Monday when Excise Secretary M Raghunandan Rao and Commissioner C Hari Kiran visited beverage company units in Sangareddy.