In the village wasuppal in the district of Kurnool, four -year -old Nandini and five -year -old Harshavardhan pedaled around their house, their enthusiastic shouts drowned their grandmother Malakka Hanumanthamma for a gentle rebuke for playing under the blistering of the summer sun.
At the age of 80, Hanumanthamma tries to take care of two children of her sick husband, Timmaiah, but he can’t be helped. Her three sons and sister -in -law work in Hyderabad as workers and will not be back after June, when the monsoon is well ongoing.
It is the norm in theuppale, where 40-Lich family leave their little children and older parents every summer to migrate to different parts of the state and in the age tradition known as “Suggi”, which persists in the arid country of Rayalaseem. This practice is particularly prevailing in the divisions of Adoni and Pathikonda susceptible to drought in the Kurnool district.
“I even migrated, but now I’m too old to work, so I’ll stay back in a village with children,” says Hanumanthamma. Nandini and Harshavardhan are the children of the youngest son of Hanumanthamma.
Malakka Hanumanthamma is sitting outside her house in the village wasuppal. | Photo Credit: U. SubraManyam
The money that her sons sends and the monthly social security pension keeps the household above the water, but loneliness takes a tax on older pairs. “I only hear my sons (through a mobile phone), but I don’t see them,” he says in a voice with grief. When he does not feel, he goes to the nearby primary health center (PHC). “If I can’t even go that far, someone (neighbors) takes care of me. If I need money, my sons will convert them to someone in a village or a doctor who treats me,” he adds.
Unforgivable
Suggi is driven primarily by Rayalaseem’s dependence on agriculture by rain. The Earth, traditionally considered the cornerstone of a stable life, has no impact here.
Also, the Hanumathammy family has several acres, but its sons can only cultivate it between the monsoon period June to September, even it depends on the rainfall. The only crop that can grow is cotton.
“We can only use a variety that requires less water, but the yield is much lower than the yield of varieties grown in irrigated areas,” he says. While the acre of the irrigated field brings cotton worth over 1,000,000 GBP, it produces the fields with rain to feed the family just to bring around 30,000-40,000 GBP for acre, he adds.
With the missing jobs, people are forced to choose between migration and national employment scheme Mahatma Gandhi (MGNGS), which pays a modest 307 GBP per day, but often delays payment of 2-3 months.
Project Director (Kurnool), District Agency for Water Management (DWMA), P. Venkar Ramanaiah says that an agency that implements MGNGS in the district employs one lake daily and gives a job to anyone who comes. Although he recognized complaints about low wages, he noted that he was fastened by the center. The manager of the agency who was looking for anonymity says the delay occurs when paying wages, because the center takes to release the payment for the accounts made.
On the other hand, migrants’ work pays significantly higher than MGNGS, which makes Suggi the preferred option for villagers.
Fifty -five -year -old P. Maddilem of Bandimeed Agraharam in Gonegandla Mandal says they can make a reasonable amount in Chilli Fields in the guntur. “The amount depends on the contract.
Some farmers involve us with daily wages, while others set us with harvesting chili peppers from two or three acres. The whole family throws itself to complete the work as soon as possible and moves to other fields. On average, a family member earns 800-1,000 GBP a day, ”he adds.
Years ago, agents visited villages, picked up people and transported them to Gunture, Hyderabad, Bengalur and even to Bombai. But now people are directly connected with farmers and four or five families go to work in groups, he emphasizes.
Empty villages and tense bonds
A walk through the village wasuppal shows the range of migration. Most houses are either locked or only have older people and small children. “More than half of the villagers moved,” says Malakka Rangamma, other older inhabitants in a village with a story similar to Hanumanthamma.
Malakka Rangamma standing in front of one of the locked house in the village wasuppal. The inhabitants went to Hyderabad in search of jobs. Three sons of Rangammy, along with their families, also moved to other places. | Photo Credit: U. SubraManyam
Basavappa, an old timer in the same village, says that even someone with 30 acres in these areas must migrate. “Who would like to leave behind the place in which they grew up, their little children and older parents and go to distant countries if they have a choice?” He asks.
Bannur in the aspari mandal looks abandoned. Sitting under a large Banyan tree is 65 -year -old Mangali Venkateswarl. “I have 10 hectares, which deprives me of social security pension, but the soil is unnecessary. Where is the water that cultivates it? Sinking the well is futile,” he says.
More than half of the villagers, including his three sons, moved to Telangana. “Some leave the village soon after Sancranti and return to Ugadi just to leave again later. This time some did not even appear for Ugadi,” he adds.
According to sources, most children in these families are entered in residential schools in social security, while their parents migrate to distant places.
The throat has dried up
Because the region does not get much rain, Kurnool and other parts of Rayalaseem cannot rely on tanks to ensure year -round availability of water.
So, when summer peaks, tanks and ponds in the region dry out and remain families in a terrible lack of water. In Pathikonda, Adoni and Aspari Mandals, people are trekking kilometers together to bring water. Motorcycles and pushcarts loaded with plastic flowers filled with water, which in these months a frequent view of the dusty rural road.
About 90 km from Kurnool, the whole village of Johapuram depends on a single well for the needs of drinking water. The water from the tap they receive is not enough to satisfy the daily needs. “Officials visit our village once in a while to inform us that the water from the well is dangerous to drink, but it does not give us an alternative,” says Murali, resident.
According to villagers, the water was clean, but open defecation and ejecting the garbage in the catchments contaminated it. “We have no choice. Not everyone can afford to buy mineral water from a nearby city,” Murali adds. The graduate also goes to Suggia, and this time he chose Tirupati, where he thinks he can get some work “Beldari” (masonry).
What can be done?
Irrigation is the only way to improve the lives of people in the region, observes P. Subbarajuda, a representative of a powerful retirement engineer (Kurnool district) in the state department of water resources.
Two years before his retirement in 2005, Subbarament recommended the construction of a weir on the Krishn River in Siddeswaam to avert the water to Rayalaseem, especially Kurnool. “The complete level of the tank (FRL) of the SRISAILAM project is 885 feet and the weir should be built on 860 ft. To divert at least 50,000 million cubic tracks (TMCFT) water to Rayalaseem,” he says.
Subbarajudu stressed that political will, including the TELANGANA permission, is required to obtain all permits for such a project. He says he wrote to the main minister Andr Pradesh N. Chandrababa Naida and his counterpart to Telangana A. Revanth Reddy, described the advantages of the construction of such a weir.
“A slight change in the alignment of the channel of the left bank of Srisailam and the construction of the regulator can provide abundant water into the Nalgonda district in Telangana without a canal through the forests,” he says.
Suggi is the sum of the total drought, unemployment and low wages that empties the villages in Rayalaseem and keeps its inhabitants in poverty. If the government does not take steps to violate the dependence of the region on the rain of agriculture and also on industrial growth, this age practice, born of despair, will continue.
Published – 16 May 2025 08:52 IS
