Telangana is undergoing a drought-like situation due to a dry spell
Priests from Chilkur Balaji temple perform Varuna Yagam (prayer for rains) at the Gandipet lake in Hyderabad on Thursday. (Photo: DC)
Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has decided to wait for rains till July 31 before taking up contingency plans for the Kharif season. Telangana is undergoing a drought-like situation due to a dry spell but rains are expected soon due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal. With monsoon playing hide and seek, government and farmers are worried a lot.
Of the total crop area of 41,43,302 hectare, 22,00,842 hectare (around 53 per cent) has been sown till date, according to the agriculture department. The least has been sown in Nalgonda, Khammam (42 per cent) and the highest, Adilabad district (71 per cent).
“We are monitoring the situation. According to the weather forecast, rains are likely to occur in two or three days due to a low pressure. We hope it rains and bring relief to all, especially farmers,” said agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy.
Asked whether the government was preparing contingency plans in view of the long dry spell, Mr Reddy said that the situation did not yet warrant implementation of contingency plans. “We will wait till July 31. If rains continue to elude by this date, we will have no option but to go for contingency plans and ask farmers to take up alternative crops. We are hopeful that the rains will cover the shortfall. There have been intermittent rains in Adilabad, Warangal, Khammam and Karimnagar,” he explained.
“Contingency plans will create panic and send out the wrong signals. Agriculture officials say we have time till the month end,” he added.
The India Meteorological Department, Hyderabad has predicted light to moderate rain or thundershowers at isolated places over Telangana in the next five days.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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