|
| UP declares 58 of 70 districts drought-hit |
| Virendra Singh Rawat / Lucknow Aug 17, 2009, 01:22 IST |
|
Sant Ram, 36, of Makrandpur Dharajit village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district had planned to replace the thatched roof in his house with a ‘pucca’ rooftop.
Instead, the prevailing drought has compelled him to defer the construction, which would have cost around Rs 60,000. With a small land holding of eight bighas, he has sown paddy in only two bighas. “Last year, my brother got his daughter married off after harvesting the kharif crop, mainly paddy. But, the drought has brought a cup of woes for us,” he rued.
Similar stories abound this in non-descript village of 500 odd families in Alampur Jafrabad block. With roughly 650 acres of agricultural land in Makrandpur, less than 150 acres have been cultivated this time. The farmers plan to sow mustard and bajra in place of the usual paddy.
Aonla, like the rest of the state is facing one of its worst droughts in almost two decades. Only about 20-25 per cent sowing has taken place; standing paddy needs water and there’s not much to spare.
Bareilly was among the 20 districts first declared drought-hit by the state government on July 20. Later, on July 26 and July 31, 38 more districts were so declared. These 58 districts out of UP’s 70 had recorded 40 per cent and 50-75 per cent less of rainfall and sowing, respectively. Official sources said the remaining 12 districts may also be declared drought-hit if the situation persisted for long.
In Makrandpur, several villagers have withdrawn their wards from schools, as they are unable to pay their fee. “About 25 per cent students are not coming to school. Their families say they do have enough to pay their fee and the students could rejoin in the next academic session, if the rain gods were merciful,” Moti Ram Lodhi, manager of the local Shri Chiddammi Lal Lodhi Memorial Secondary School told Business Standard.
He said some villagers had also postponed marriages in their families to next year due to the failed monsoon. There is shortage of cattle feed and some are planning to sell their livestock. Only a handful have bored tubewells and mean to run them on diesel, since the erratic power supply is available for less than eight hours in a day.
“I had sold wheat to buy seeds for paddy, but my investment has gone waste for want for downpour,” bemoaned Bhure Lal, 75, having 10 bighas of land.
The district administration said mini kits containing seeds of crops which require less water to grow, viz maize, jowar, bajra, lentils and mustard, were being distributed. This claim is vehemently contradicted by the farmers. “We have not received any help from the government so far, nor has any official visited us,” said Bhure Lal.
Fertiliser, seed and pesticide traders have reported 50 per cent drop in sales due to drought. “Some farmers are even returning the purchase of fertiliser and pesticides, since they know their crop would be ruined anyway due to lack of irrigation,” Satyendra Pal Singh of Singh Seed Store said.
Since the groundwater level in most western UP districts is already alarmingly low, the administration has also prohibited boring at several blocks.
“So far, the rainfall has been 58 per cent deficient in the state. Even if normal monsoon resumes, there would be an average of 40 per cent less rainfall,” says the director of the state’s metereological office, J P Gupta.
The state had faced an earlier drought situation in 2006, but the deficiency in rainfall was only 11 per cent that year.
During the last kharif season, the total foodgrain acreage and production in UP was about 8.2 million hectares and 15.9 million tonnes, respectively. According to preliminary data, the sowing of paddy, which accounts for 82 per cent of the total kharif crop, is only 30 per cent across the state to date.
The other major cash crop, sugarcane, will also suffer. Cane acreage is down to about 1.78 million hectares from 2.14 million hectares last year. Production would be at least 25 per cent less.
UP has demanded Rs 7,800 crore from the Centre for relief work in the drought-hit districts. The government maintained the drought had not only affected the farm sector in the current kharif season, but was likely to cast its shadow on the coming rabi season as well. State agriculture minister Laxmi Narayan met Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recently, urging for immediate release of a drought relief package to UP.
The government plans to utilise the relief package in providing diesel subsidy to small and marginal farmers, provision of alternate seeds, fodder, irrigation, tube wells, canals and setting up independent feeders for unrestricted power supply. Chief minister Mayawati had already ordered suspension of revenue recovery in the drought-hit districts till March 2010.
A Union agriculture ministry team is likely to visit UP on August 17 to take stock. “The high-level team is coming on a 3-day visit. They may also visit the affected districts,” state agriculture director R R Verma added.
The state food and civil supplies department, however, feels there was no urgency to press the panic button as yet, since the state had sufficient rice and wheat stocks to last till December 2009 and February 2010, respectively.
“The state can also takefood grain from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) buffer stock, if need arises,” an official said. There are an estimated 100.7 million Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Above Poverty Line (APL) card holders in the state.
The state has recently committed another 26,600 tonnes of wheat to be distributed in the drought affected areas.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
