BHUBANESWAR: Possibility of drought in the State cannot be ruled out if there is no rainfall during the next two to three days, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sudam Marndi informed the Assembly on Friday.
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Making a statement in the House as per the direction of Speaker Surya Narayan Patro, Marndi said as per the assessment made by the district agriculture officers (DAOs), paddy crop is likely to be affected if there is no rain within the next two or three days.
Taking into consideration the seriousness of the situation, a meeting of the DAOs was convened through video conferencing on July 24, he said and added that replanting of saplings has not been possible at many places because of inadequate rainfall.
The Minister said 25 out of 30 districts have received deficit rainfall so far during this monsoon. Except Koraput, Khurda, Nabarangpur, Cuttack and Kalahandi districts which received normal rains (from -19 pc to +19 pc), rainfall in all other districts were deficient.
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As per block-level assessment, deficit rainfall was recorded in 235 blocks out of 314. Of these, the deficit in 21 blocks was 59 pc, he said.
According to information received from Water Resources Department, water level in all rivers, reservoirs and barrages are inadequate in view of the less rainfall.
The water level in the large and medium reservoirs is only 15.66 pc of the average live storage capacity which is inadequate for irrigation purposes, Marndi said and added that by July 21 the water level should be 28.8 pc of the capacity.
Besides, water level in some medium irrigation projects like Hariharjor, Jharbandh, Kharkhara and Sarafgarh and most of small irrigation projects is below the dead storage level, Marndi said.
The Minister said rainfall data is being reviewed by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on a regular basis and a Crop Weather Watch Group Committee headed by the Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) has been formed to keep an eye on the situation.
The Committee is reviewing the crop and weather situation on a weekly basis. A Crop Weather Watch Group for Drought Management has been formed by the Centre which reviews the situation every week through video conferencing with the State governments, he said.
Marndi, however, maintained that the situation is likely to improve as the state will receive rainfall by July 27 as per the prediction of the Indian Meteorological Department. S
ome areas of the state also had rainfall on Thursday, he said.