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After coping with years of flooding that occurs practically every monsoon, the people of Assam are now battling another phenomenon - heatwaves and an impending drought
At least eight people have died due to an unprecedented heatwave in the northeastern state of Assam in the past week. The highest temperatures in recent memory, accompanied by an unexpected dry spell in 20 out of 27 districts in this flood-prone state, have affected more than 800,000 farm families and raised fears of a drought in the state.
The state government has urged the Centre to depute a team to assess the damage caused to kharif crops and has itself announced a slew of measures to help farmers tide over the crisis, earmarking a whopping Rs 500 million for the purpose. State officials have also been directed to work out contingency plans to avert a famine in the affected areas.
"The temperature in the past week was at least four degrees Celsius above normal and the state has received 41% less rainfall so far this year compared to the mean annual average," Dulal Chakraborty, deputy director general of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati said on August 19.
Last week, Guwahati too recorded a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, the highest in the state capital for the month of August for 16 years, weather officials say. Soaring temperatures prompted the closure of all educational institutions in the state until August 23.
This season, Assam has received just 77 cm of rain, the lowest in 132 years. With 20 districts having received 'scanty or very little rainfall,' the state government said 32% of the state has been experiencing a "drought-like situation" since July. An estimated 817,769 farmers had been affected and over 500,000 hectares of crop damaged.
On August 19, the state government sounded an alert, asking officials to formulate plans to combat the fallout of a possible drought. "The situation is indeed worrying and we have instructed our officials to ensure incentives and other facilities to farmers whose croplands have been severely affected due to the drought-like situation," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
The government has also decided to release Rs 500 million during the upcoming rabi season for the distribution of seeds and fertiliser to affected farmers. Of this, Rs 70 crore will be released immediately for the distribution of black gram and pulse seeds before September 15. On August 15, the government announced a waiver on land tax for the affected farmers.
The government has also released Rs 1.4 crore for the distribution of 10 litres of diesel to the affected farmers, to enable them to pump water into their parched paddy fields. So far, 34,800 farmers have been covered. It is also considering a food-for-work programme in the affected districts.
After reviewing the situation at an emergency meeting on August 17, Gogoi wrote to India's Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar urging him to send a team to assess the crop damage and to facilitate the earliest possible release of relief to the affected farmers.
Experts, however, say there is no need to panic just yet. "There were just two occasions when there was a moderate drought recorded in Assam a century back," they say.
More than 75% of Assam's 26 million people earn their livelihoods from farming, but agriculture in the state has been repeatedly hit by consecutive years of heavy monsoon rains that cause the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries to flood large swathes of the state.
In 2004, at least 200 people died and millions were displaced by floods in Assam. This year, its beleaguered people are bracing themselves for a natural disaster of a different kind.
Source: The Hindu, August 18,
2006
NDTV, August 16,
2006
The Hindu, August 14,
2006
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