Half of Assam districts declared drought hit

Half of the districts in Assam have been declared drought-hit by the state government due to scanty rainfall this year.     

The decision to declare 14 of the 28 districts in the state as drought-hit was taken last night at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi here, an official notification said today.     

The declaration came with the state having received 30 per cent less rain than normal this year, it said.     

Against the average rainfall of 588.8 mm between June 1 to July 12, the rainfall recorded this year was only 414.8 mm which led to crop damage in several areas.     

The drought-hit districts are Bongaigaon, Cachar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Morigaon, Nagaon and Sibsagar.     

The government has directed deputy commissioners of the affected districts to draw up action plans for supply of drinking water and fodder besides giving attention to irrigation facilities.     

All other departments have been asked to take steps to deal with the situation effectively, the notification signed by the Principal Secretary Revenue and Disaster Management added.

Though Assam had witnessed three waves of floods during this monsoon, Relief and Rehabilitation minister Bhumidhar Barman said the 14 districts faced a drought-like situation due to late arrival of the monsoons.    

The farmers in the affected districts could not sow seeds on time and the people were facing shortage of water, including potable drinking water, despite rainfall in the first week of this month, Barman explained.      

The average rainfall received till July 10 this year by Bongaigaon was less than 41 per cent, Cachar (-) 21 per cent, Dhubri (-)28 pc, Goalpara (-)30 pc , Golaghat (-)25 pc, Hailakandi (-)75 pc, Jorhat (-)24 pc, Kamrup (-)34 pc, Karbi Anglong (-)42 pc, Kokrajhar (-)33 pc, Morigaon (-)43 pc, besides Nagaon (-)69 pc, he said.