Scanty rainfall: BJP for contingency plan in UP

The BJP Friday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to prepare a contingency plan for farmers in the wake of the delayed monsoon and prediction of scanty rainfall.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Chandra Mohan said the state is facing the spectre of a drought and the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government should brace for any eventuality.

Alleging the Samajwadi Party (SP) government was ignoring the warning signals of the weatherman, the BJP leader said time had come for the state to focus on ways to combat the near real threat of a drought.

Adding the acute power shortage in the state had further crippled irrigation, the BJP spokesman said if seeds and adequate water were not provided to farmers in time, paddy yield will nose dive.

"The lame duck attitude of the state is worrying as the union government has already begun work on the delayed monsoon effect," he told IANS.

Mohan said the state unit of the BJP will continue to raise voice for an immediate contingency plan to minimise effects of a poor monsoon.