E-Paper
Prayagraj on verge of drought, gets just 42% rains this year
Normally, the district during the monsoon season should receive 704.8 mm of rain while this time only 297.8 mm ie mere 42.37% of the total rainfall has been received
Due to less rainfall this monsoon season, Prayagraj district is now on the brink of drought.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has asked the district magistrates of all the districts including Prayagraj to review the drought conditions and submit a report within a week. In this sequence, agriculture production commissioner Manoj Kumar has sought a complete report from all officials concerned through video conferencing held on Wednesday, informed officials of the district administration.
The situation in Prayagraj meanwhile continues to remain very dry. Normally, the district during the monsoon season should receive 704.8 mm of rain while this time only 297.8 mm ie mere 42.37% of the total rainfall has been received, officials concede.
Paddy planting has been affected to a large extent in Shankargarh and Manda areas due to deficient rainfall. In Shankargarh area, paddy has not been planted anywhere, while in Manda area, 66% of the fields are lying vacant. In such a situation, preparations are on to send a fresh report to the state government.
This time the report will be sent, along with the ground reports sought from the lekhpals and technical assistants so as to present the true picture before the state government. A committee has been constituted at the district level under the chairmanship of ADM (finance and revenue) Jagdamba Singh, who is also the district nodal officer in charge of all affairs related to natural disasters.
Deputy director (agriculture) VK Sharma has also been made a member of this committee. The committee will send tehsil-wise details of the district to the government within the next one week. After this a special package could be announced for the farmers thereby declaring the districts as drought hit from the government level, shared a senior district administration official aware of the developments.
ADM (finance and revenue) informed that all the canals in trans-Ganga and trans-Yamuna are being operated at full capacity to help out farmers. “This is to ensure at a time of deficient rains in the district, farmers can get sufficient amount of water for irrigation,” he said.
If the district is declared drought hit, then farmers will be given compensation at a rate of ₹17,000 per hectare. Apart from this, the relief package that the government announces will also be given separately. ADM Finance and Revenue Jagdamba Singh said normally on an average four to five tonne of paddy per hectare is produced.
