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Drought Conditions in Maharashtra

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November 22, 2018

Why in news?

Maharashtra government has identified 201 talukas in 32 districts as facing water scarcity and drought-like conditions.

What is the recent crisis?

  • Large parts of Maharashtra, North Gujarat, Saurashtra, Kutch and North Karnataka are reeling under drought.
  • Marathwada region of Maharashtra seems the worst affected.
  • The southwest monsoon rains were, in fact, quite good in most of these areas during June-July.
  • The monsoon’s timely arrival led to the area sown under kharif crops being more or less normal.
  • But drought conditions have been induced by monsoon failure in the second half of the season.
  • Farmers were caught unaware by the extended dry spell from August.
  • By this time, their already planted crops were in the late vegetative growth stage.

What is the impact?

  • Farmers with some irrigation facilities would well have saved their crop.
  • In the event, the yield losses from late-season moisture stress may have been minimal.
  • But even these farmers are in no position to plant a rabi crop.
  • It's because there’s hardly any soil and subsoil moisture left to allow rabi cropping.
  • Evidently, the Union Agriculture Ministry’s latest sowing data for the current rabi season shows a 16% drop in crop area so far.
  • While rabi plantings will continue for the next one month, the trend is unlikely to reverse in this period.
  • This is particularly the case in the above said states/regions where the drought situation is most serious.
  • But the problem is not simply that of farmers being unable to grow crops (wheat, mustard, chana, jeera, dhaniya, or saunf).
  • What worries them more is providing water and fodder to their cattle and buffaloes.
  • The distress migration by farmers along with animals has already begun in central Maharashtra.
  • This could present a serious challenge when the next monsoon is just few months away.
  • Marathwada is already in a water crisis. Availability of drinking water has become a challenge as dug wells have dried up and bore wells are fast running dry.

What is to be done?

  • Rabi season drought may be somewhat a rare phenomenon.
  • But its impact on crop production and supply of water and fodder is no less, extending to the following summer.
  • The state has started securing the existing water sources for rational use, to curtail water crisis.
  • For the governments at the Centre and in the concerned states, the most sensible option is to act fast.
  • The Central teams should immediately be sent to ascertain the ground situation and officially declare drought.
  • Preparation for starting fodder camps, taking up MGNREGA works or making direct benefit transfers to the most vulnerable families should start soon.

 

Source: Indian Express, Down to Earth

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