Hubballi: As he does every year, Govindaiah M R, a farmer from Bommanalli in Chamarajanagar district, had sown paddy on his 15 acres of land, trusting that the Suvarnavathi river, a tributary of the Cauvery, would provide irrigation.
The rains never did come and the region grew arid with each passing day. Govindaiah then turned to employing his irrigation pump set to draw water from his borewell. But those plans too came to a halt due to erratic power supply.
“Farmers of our village and surrounding ones staged a protest, pleading for 10 hours of three-phase power supply. But even officers seem helpless due to power shortage.
