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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Drought at our doorstep -Koride Mahesh

Drought at our doorstep -Koride Mahesh

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published Published on Aug 6, 2015   modified Modified on Aug 6, 2015
-The Times of India

HYDERABAD: Telangana appears to be heading towards a drought. Half of the monsoon season is over and apart from the initial days of rainfall, the state has had a dry spell. Water levels in reservoirs are dropping rapidly and many towns are facing a drinking water crisis. In rural areas, the crisis is in the form of dying crops and a looming threat of fodder shortage.

In fact, more than half the mandals in the state have recorded deficit rainfall. As many as 278 out of 459 mandals have a deficit ranging from minus 20% to minus 59% since June. The situation is far worse in 46 mandals that have received scanty rains (minus 60% to minus 99% of normal rainfall).

Officials said that 21 of the 64 mandals in Mahbubnagar fall in the scanty rainfall category while several mandals in Karimnagar and Medak districts have recorded deficit rainfall.

Officials told TOI that the 10 districts of Telangana normally receive 905.4 mm of rainfall in a year. Of this, 715 mm (79%) comes from the south-west monsoon between June and September, 129 mm (14%) is received from north-east monsoon (October to December) and the remaining seven per cent during the other months.

In a normal rain year, the state is supposed to receive 385 mm of rain till August 1. However, this year only 306 mm of rainfall has been recorded as on date, with the overall deficiency being pegged at 21%.

Under these worrisome conditions, the farming community in the state is under stress, more so because they had pegged their hopes on the initial bout of plentiful rains in June. Taking it as a sign of good monsoon, the farmers went ahead with the sowing of paddy and other crops. Against the normal sown area of 29.12 lakh hectares, 26.97 lakh hectares (93%) was sown, both in farmland with assured irrigation and rain-fed areas. The highest percentage of cultivation was recorded in Adilabad, Nizamabad and Karimnagar districts.

"The farmers took up cultivation in June itself due to the active monsoon that month. Later, dry weather gripped the state in the first two weeks of July followed by isolated rains on July 14 and 15 and scattered rains in the third week of July. But due to the overall rain deficit, many crops are exhibiting moisture stress symptoms in many areas," a deputy director of the agriculture department said.

When contacted, commissioner, disaster management, and principal secretary (revenue) BR Meena said the situation is being closely monitored. "Since the monsoon will last for two more months, one cannot conclude that the state is facing a drought. However, contingency plans are being prepared by the respective departments," he said.

Last year too, as many as 103 mandals had faced drought during the kharif season, but the government had not declared them drought-hit. As per the drought manual, mandals are declared drought-hit based on the rainfall, dry spells, reduction in crop area and reduction in crop yield (less than 50%). Last year, officials held meetings on declaring the 103 mandals as drought-hit, but the Kharif season ended before the government initiated any relief measures.

"Initially, a list of 80 drought-hit mandals was prepared by the committee on disaster management. Later, it was decided to take the National Differential Vegetation Index and National Differential Water Index. As per these parameters, the mandals increased to 103. By the time we got reports from the district collectors, the Kharif season had ended and the Rabi season had begun," an official involved with disaster management plans in the state said.

The Times of India, 5 August, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Drought-at-our-doorstep/articleshow/48352979.cms


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