All districts of Kerala declared drought-hit

Deficit of 69 p.c. rainfall forecast even if 90 to 100 p.c. rainfall is received in November and December: Minister

October 30, 2016 03:38 pm | Updated December 02, 2016 12:39 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Bharathapuzha is raising disturbing questions regarding the drinking water and irrigation needs of people living in 175 grama panchayats and a dozen municipalities located in Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. Photo: K. K. Mustafah

Bharathapuzha is raising disturbing questions regarding the drinking water and irrigation needs of people living in 175 grama panchayats and a dozen municipalities located in Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. Photo: K. K. Mustafah

All the 14 districts of Kerala have been declared drought-hit by the government.

This was announced by Minister for Revenue, E. Chandrasekharan in the Assembly on Monday while replying to a notice for an adjournment motion moved by V. S. Sivakumar of Congress.

“There is a deficit 34 per cent rainfall in the State during the South-West monsoon. During the North-East monsoon, it is projected that we will have a deficit of 69 per cent rainfall even if 90 to 100 per cent rainfall is received in November and December. The State Disaster Management Authority, at its meeting under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on October 28, has decided to declare the entire State as drought-hit,” he said.

Moratorium on farm loan

A moratorium will come into effect on the agricultural loan taken by the farmers. The government will seek central aid to overcome the crisis. The District Collectors have been given a 26-point guideline to be followed for drought-relief, the Minister has said.

From June 1 this year to September 30, Kerala received 1352.3 mm rain against the normal rainfall of 2039.7 mm, a deficiency of 34 per cent.

There has been no rain in October and if this situation continues, there will be drought-like situation, IMD, Thiruvananthapuram Director S Sudevan, said.

“If the North East Monsoon fails then there will be problems in different sectors — Agriculture, Power etc”, he told PTI .

Pinarayi sounds the warning

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has also said that the State was heading for a “severe” drought as Kerala had received deficient rains in the South-West monsoon.

Though the North-East monsoon was yet to set in, the State had not received pre-monsoon showers, he said.

“A huge danger is lurking in the state in the form of drought as the South-West monsoon was deficient”, Mr. Vijayan had said at a function on Sunday.

RWH to be encouraged

“If this situation continues, the State is heading for a severe drought. We need to take precautions,” he had said. To tackle the situation, the government was also keen to encourage rain water harvesting, he said.

There has been an average reduction of 22 per cent water in the State’s dams when compared to the water storage in September last year.

The State was also gearing up to take measures to tackle scarcity of drinking water which is likely to be faced by the State due to deficient monsoon, according to Water Resources Minister Mathew P Thomas.

The government also has plans to rejuvenate at least 10,000 private temple ponds of the total 40,000 in the State.

The Chief Minister had convened a high-level meeting on October 13 to work out plans to meet the impending drought situation

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