NEW DELHI, May 27: The current drought in Orissa is man-made, Oxfam, a NGO, said on Tuesday. Describing it as one of the worst in the last 30 years, Oxfam's Ajay Kanchan said the famine was due to the neglect of traditional irrigation systems.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kanchan called for state and central intervention on a war footing to control the famine.

According to a limited study conducted in villages in two blocks of Bolangir and Naupara districts, there were signals that people were losing interest in agriculture. This was despite the fact that Kalahandi used to produce more than the national per capita of rice until 1993-94, he said.

The man made drought in Orissa has led to the extinction of several valuable crop varieties. ``Every drought in Orissa takes a toll on seed types and unless more varieties are preserved now, they are in danger of becoming extinct by the end of the century,'' said S R Ramappa, Oxfam representative in Orissa.

Oxfam (India) trust is trying to preserve sixty-three indigenous varieties of seeds to keep small farmers in business.

The present initiative is expected to help farmers in west Orissa retain their land and seeds and to use 12 blocks in the southern districts for rabi and kharif cultiviation, Sriramappa said.

Oxfam now plans to establish a seed bank in every village in the three worst affected districts of Bolangir, Nuapada and Bargarh, where 21 panchayats are collecting indigenous seed varieties. A Rs 1.5 crore relief and sustainable development programme has also been launched in the drought-struck area, with assistance from the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) from UK.

Oxfam has also set up fair-price shops in nine blocks to counter artificial scarcities of rice and other commodities created by traders who are out to make capital of the drought. The Jagruthi Bhandar (awareness shops) sell commodities at a nominal margin, forcing traders to bring down prices.

However, Oxfam's most important initiative in Orissa has been its Tank-Within-Tanks (TWT) programme after it was discovered that water was available just eight feet below the bottom of dried-up tanks. While 107 TWTs have been completed, work on more tanks is to continue till the end of May.

Since all the problems can be traced to the exploitation of people ignorant of their rights, Oxfam has plans to educate communities with the help of its 14 community-based organisations.

According to Sriramappa, people have already started pressurising the government to get its act together on the drought and famine situation.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.