Drought worsens as 278 districts declared affected

Rainfall activity over parts of central India and parts of southern peninsula during the last week may have brought some relief to the standing kharif crop....

Rainfall activity over parts of central India and parts of southern peninsula during the last week may have brought some relief to the standing kharif crop,but the drought situation across the country has deteriorated with 278 districts being declared affected. This means more than 45 per cent of total districts in the country are facing a drought-like situation.

According to information available with the Agriculture Ministry,26 districts from Rajasthan are the new addition to the list of districts facing a drought-like situation as of Thursday,taking the total to 278 of the 337 districts in 11 states.

The number of affected districts has grown almost double within a span of three weeks. The number has risen from 141 on August 8,announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the meeting of State Chief Secretaries,to almost double at 278.

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In fact,in the 11 states Assam (27 districts),Jharkhand (24),Himachal Pradesh (12),Manipur (9),Nagaland (11),UP (58),Bihar (26),Karnataka (20),Maharashtra (28),Madhya Pradesh (37) and Rajasthan (26) over 82 per cent of the districts are facing a drought-like situation.

However,the rainfall has improved over the last week. In the week ending August 26,the rainfall remained only five per cent below normal. This has helped marginally bridge the overall rainfall deficit in the country from 26 per cent below normal to 25 per cent below normal during this monsoon so far. As many as 340 of 533 districts monitored by the Met department are still facing less than normal rainfall in the season. In fact,the recent rainfall has primarily helped the regions that witnessed scanty rainfall (more than 60 per cent deficit).

Figures with the Agriculture Ministry reveal that the shortfall in the paddy sowing has further widened from 57 lakh hectares to over 68 lakh hectares despite two weeks of near normal rainfall.

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