UP fears drought as other states face rain fury

Lucknow, Aug 27: Even as the rest of the country is facing the fury of floods, the Uttar Pradesh government is alarmed over the perceivable threat of drought in about 28 districts spread over in Bundelkhand, Eastern and Western parts of the state.

With monsoon becoming weak and the prospects of further rains rather bleak, the state administration has geared itself to face any eventuality in the form of a drought.

''Yes, there is a possibility of drought hitting about one-third of the state,''senior revenue department officials told UNI.

The districts which are under threat of drought are rain deficient having received below 50 per cent or 40 per cent of the normal rains during the current monsoon season.

The drought-prone districts in the state are Lalitpur, Jhansi, Pratapgarh, Saharanpur,Ferozabad, Hameerpur, Etawah, Ambedkarnagar, Fatehpur, Maharajganj, Aligarh,Bareilly, Baghpat, Bijnore, Jyotibaphulenagar, Azamgarh, Chandauli, Hathras, Sonebhadra, Hardoi, Deoria, Badaun, Meerut, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Mainpuri, Pilibhit, Mau and Kushinagar.

Many of these districts have faced the drought like situation in the previous years also and they will have to go through the same ordeal in succession, according to revenue officials.

Revenue Minister Ambika Chaudhry said, necessary instructions have been issued to all the concerned departments: Agriculture, Power and Irrigation to launch concerted efforts to minimise the losses of crops.

Realising the gravity of the situation which might erupt consequent to the drought, the UP Agriculture Department has sounded an alert and is looking forward to the revival of monsoon to save the chances of 'Kharif crops.There was an imminent threat of the prospects of the crops of Paddy, Soyabeen, Urad, Arhar, Maize in the state.

''Only good rains in the month of September could save the remaining prospects of the Kharif,''an agriculture official said.

Meanwhile, the UP Chief Secretary Naveen Chandra Bajpayee has issued directives not to be harsh with the farmers of the affected districts in realisation of their dues. Besides, the authorities in these districts have been asked to look after the irrigation facilities and other assistance for the farmers.

Anees Ansari, the Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) of UP has also directed the officials to ensure uniterrupted power supply, repair of the transformer and steps to protect moisture of the soil.

A report reaching here at the state headquarters suggests as many as 300 out of a total of 365 canals in Bundelkhand region of the state are without water. This situation adds to the woes of the farmers in the rain deficient regions.

Another report from Chandauli in East UP said the hundreds of farmers of this Maoist-affected district, popularly known as 'Rice bowl of east Uttar Pradesh', are on the brink of starvation as spectre of drought looms large in the region for the fourth year in succession.

Despite the well defined network of canals, as the erstwhile kings of Kashi Kingdom had shown interest in water management and they created many dams in the hill areas of Naugarh, rice production in this area is under threat due to drought like conditions. Rice grown in this area is also exported.

The irrigation system in the region has collapsed and the ground water level was decreasing with every passing day. Chandauli is finding it hard to maintain its status of 'rice bowl of East UP'.

''Yes, the situation is alarming due to 'no-rains' over a period of last three years and some drastic measures are extremely neccessary to be put in place,'' a senior administrative officer told UNI over phone.

''We are very much alive to the situation in the entire state and have directed our officials to coordidnate with the district magistrates of these districts to take measures to save standing crops,'' UP Agriculture Director Sabhajit Tiwari said.

Round the clock vigil is being maintained in the state to assess the danger of drought and regular meeting of all the officers of the concerned departments is being taken place.

UNI