Mining, deforestation cause severe drought
Massive deforestation and unchecked mining of coal, iron ore and bauxite has created a huge water scarcity in Jharkhand. The result is that for the first time after the creation of the state, primary level schools are not able to serve midday meals to schoolchildren, alleges Enakshi Ganguly of HAQ Centre for Child Rights.
Teachers in these schools have told HAQ activists in Jharkhand that while they have the foodgrains and fuel, they do not have drinking water to do the cooking thereby leaving thousands of children in the lurch.
The situation has become so serious that 25,000 of the state’s 40,000 ponds have dried up, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha MLA Pradip Yadav said in the state Assembly on Friday while trying to introduce an adjournment motion on this matter in the House.
“The policy of aggressive mining being pursued by the state has led to the situation where all the groundwater in the surrounding areas is drying up,” said secretary of the Adivasi Kalyan Parishad, Munni Hansda.
Earlier, Ranchi used to receive water during the winter months which helped to recharge groundwater levels but these rains have been decreasing while rampant tree cutting has resulted in climbing mercury levels. Dr D.K. Rusia, deputy director and professor water management in Birsa Agriculture University, Ranchi, believes that the state government needs to come up with a clear water recharge policy to resolve this unprecedented drought situation. Mr Munda has set up a task force to prepare a preliminary report on the water situation in the state.
This is the second successive year that the state is facing a severe drought.
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