El Nino drought drives nearly 10,000 farming families from Kurnool
A tough drought in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, thanks to El Nino, has already forced nearly 10,000 farming families to pack up and leave.
With barely any rain, over 80% of agricultural land in Kurnool depends entirely on seasonal rainfall.
Things aren't looking up either: after the Dasara festival, at least 50,000 more families could have to move out too.
Farmers lose ₹50,000 per acre
Farmers here planted cotton or red gram hoping for good monsoon rains, but July and August were dry.
Many spent ₹25,000 to ₹35,000 per acre only to lose around ₹50,000 per acre.
Digging deeper borewells didn't help much (water is just too scarce), and debts are piling up.
Many Kurnool residents lack drought relief
With farm work drying up in towns like Adoni and Yemmiganur, lots of families are heading for cities like Hyderabad looking for jobs.
But here's the catch: only 15 out of Kurnool's 27 mandals are officially recognized as drought-hit.
That means a lot of people aren't getting subsidies or loan relief when they need it most.