Some areas in UP likely to be declared drought hit

LUCKNOW: With more than half the area of Uttar Pradesh reeling under scanty rainfall the prospect of the state being declared drought hit has started gaining ground. About 40 of the 71 districts in the state have received less than 40% of normal rains till now. Of these 17 districts have got less than 25% of rain they should have received till now under normal circumstances.

Government officials say that an estimated 50% of the crops sown in these areas have been destroyed due to the adverse climatic conditions and scanty rains.

Highly placed sources said that the government is likely to declare some districts as drought hit within the next 7-10 days. As many as 40 districts might be declared drought hit but any decision would only be taken after waiting for a week to asses whether the monsoon is picking up or not. Officials said that drought would declared after collecting data on the amount and timing of rainfall as well as status of sowing and the health of crops in the worst affected areas.

As per the latest data the state has received less than 59%of normal rains with the western part of the state getting only about 40% of normal rains till now. However the worst affected districts in the state as per the amount of rainfalls shows that scanty rains have also adversely affected some districts in eastern-UP as well as the Bundelkhand region.

With the ideal sowing period drawing to a close and large parts of the state receiving less than adequate amount of rains official estimates show that only 40% of kharif crop cultivation had taken place till last week. Agriculture department officials say that kharif cultivation is expected to decline by 20-30% this season. Paddy, which is a water intensive crop, is the worst hit and it is now estimated that paddy production would decline to about 131 lakh metric tonnes this year.