Bihar, Jharkhand, parts of WB declared drought-affected
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Drought in eastern parts of the country has spread to more areas with 24 districts in Jharkhand and 11 districts in West Bengal being declared drought-hit by their respective state governments. Bihar has already declared a drought in all 38 districts
The spectre of drought looms over many parts of eastern India and deficient rainfall is being blamed for the worrying conditions in Bihar, Jharkand and parts of West Bengal. There is an almost 25% rainfall deficiency in eastern and northeastern India, and the situation is unlikely to show any significant improvement in the coming days, according to the meteorological office.
“More than half the monsoon season is already over. There is no way such large deficits in Jharkhand, Bihar and other areas will be compensated for. There is likely to be an improvement in the rainfall situation in the coming days; we will be lucky even if 10-15% of this gap is bridged,” Ajit Tyagi, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Jharkhand, the worst-affected state, has received only half the amount of rainfall it usually gets by now. Eastern Uttar Pradesh is experiencing a 43% deficiency, while Bihar and West Bengal have a 32% shortfall each. Madhya Pradesh has received about 20% less rainfall this season.
The West Bengal government, on August 16, 2010, declared 11 districts in the state drought-hit and allocated Rs 50 crore to tackle the situation. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The drought-affected districts in West Bengal include Purulia, Bankura, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Burdwan (known as the ‘rice bowl of West Bengal’), Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, West Midnapore, Nadia and Malda.
Earlier, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declared the entire state drought-affected. “Bihar is facing a natural calamity for the fourth year in succession… While the state faced devastating floods in 2007 and 2008, drought has hit the state for the second year in succession,” he said during Independence Day celebrations at the historic Gandhi Maidan in Patna.
The government had, on August 3, declared 28 out of the 38 districts in Bihar drought-hit. They include Saharsa, Supaul, Purnea Madhepura, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Araria and Katihar.
Nitish Kumar said the state has demanded a Rs 5,062 crore special package to deal with the situation.
Officials in Ranchi said the decision to declare Jharkand a drought-hit state was taken by Governor M O H Farook’s advisory council last week. The mineral-rich state is currently under President’s rule. A fortnight ago, the Jharkand government declared only 12 districts drought-affected before adding four more to the list a couple of days ago. District administrations have been asked to speed up relief measures, officials said.
A team of central officials and experts will visit Jharkhand and Bihar to assess the drought situation, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in the Lok Sabha.
Source: The Indian Express, August 18, 13, 2010
http://www.ndtv.com, August 16, 2010
http://sify.com , August 15, 2010
The Telegraph, August 11, 2010