Aquaculture is eating away huge tracts of agriculture lands in the fertile Konaseema region, where farmers are cultivating three crops per year and getting a minimum of 45 to 50 bags of paddy per acre. Though there are strict rules governing aquaculture, they are being routinely flouted by influential persons. Increasing salinity levels have led to a panic situation and recently, one farmer tried to commit suicide near his field by consuming pesticide. Aquaculture is being taken up in 35,000 acres in Konaseema, mostly in Mummidivaram, Amalapuram, Katrenikona, I. Polavaram, Uppalaguptam, Tallarevu and Kajuluru. In all these mandals, the activity is being carried out illegally on another 75,000 acres but no action has been taken by officials till date. In most of the cases, identification of agricultural and non-agricultural land is the main issue. Such activities cannot be undertaken without the connivance of the revenue staff, said Vemuri Satyanarayana, a progressive farmer. He recalled that one RDO was transferred and some revenue staff were suspended for aiding the violators. It was alleged that they gave permissions to the followers of one MLA for more than 2,000 acres at one go. Bleak scenario Permissions were given in four villages, including Karrivani Revu and Gadilanka in Mummidivaram mandal. Machines were brought to dig aqua tanks in these villages, which are already in the grip of water crisis. In other mandals too the situation is the same forcing people depend on panchayat water supply schemes. In Duggudurru village of Kajuluru mandal, 30 drinking water wells have dried up in the last two months after aquaculture started. We have got bore wells dug up to a depth of 300 metres but they are yielding only brackish water. Earlier, we used to get sweet water from a depth of 200 metres only, said Lingaraju of Duggudurru. In February, the High Court had directed the district administration to destroy all the aquaculture tanks. The then district Collector asked officials to implement the order, but only four to five tanks were destroyed. After a brief lull, cultivation began in the same tanks and the activity spread to other villages. The new Collector, Karthikeya Mishra, at a review meeting recently asked all the MROs and RDOs of Konaseema to submit a report on illegal aquaculture in the region.