Farmers in an arid Andhra Pradesh district revive traditional irrigation system to tide over drought They had reached the channel even before daybreak, carrying shovels, sickles, small containers and whatever they could grab. The previous evening, their leader, the pinna pedda, had announced by beating drums the urgent need to clear the channel. On reaching the spot, the men started enthusiastically scooping out piles of silt from the channel and uprooting reeds from its sidewalls.

Drenched in sweat, they returned home within a couple of hours, only to get ready for the farms. “The channel is the lifeline of Madirepalli,” says the pinna pedda, N Adinarayana. Madirepalli, a small village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, falls in the Rayalaseema region which is a victim of geography and receives scanty rainfall. Its desert-like condition has prompted the Centre to cover the district under Desert Development Programme

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