Alarmingly deficient monsoon rains, canals with little water and defunct tube wells have brought back the fear of a drought in large parts of Bihar for the second consecutive year. Sensing the farmers’ distress in an election year, the Nitish Kumar government is contemplating a number of urgent sops to prevent crop failure.
The 26 districts of Bihar that were declared drought-hit in 2009 have registered a rainfall deficit of 41 per cent so far as the monsoon has played truant despite metrological mandarins assuring enough rains in the second fortnight of June. While Bihar’s agriculture normally needs 202.8 mm rainfall, there has been only 134.4 mm rainfall so far. Deficiencies in water have led to planting of only about 55 per cent of paddy seedlings, said agriculture department officials. The problem has been more acute in southern Bihar districts such as Gaya, Nawada, Nalanda, Jehanabad and Aurangabad, where most farmers are yet to plant paddy seedlings. In some parts in these Maoist-affected districts, the land has displayed cracks due to prolonged dryness. Bhojpur and Buxar are the worst-hit districts where rainfall deficiency has been estimated to be 86 per cent and 84 per cent respectively.
“While the state government’s stated target for 2010-11is to ensure planting of paddy seedlings in 3,57,500 hectares as opposed to last year’s 2,70,000 hectares last year, work on this has succeeded in only about 2,42,560 hectares in entire Bihar,” said a senior agriculture department official.
Lift irrigation facilities in Bihar are in a shambles as almost 99 per cent of the government tube wells stand defunct, said sources. Many of them have not worked in years due to absence of power, transformers and motors. Central Bihar, where agriculture is sustained by canal irrigation, faces trouble from empty canals.
The disaster management department, which is currently engaged in assessing the situation, has already sent a proposal for release of Rs 55 lakhs for repair of defunct tube wells and installation of new ones, said officials. The food and consumer protection department has stated the need for three lakh tonnes of grains as a contingency measure.
“All departments related to food, agriculture and irrigation have been asked to prepare in advance to combat distress situations in the event of a worsening of the drought-like situation,” said Mr Vyasjee, principal secretary of the disaster management department.