Farmers' plight : Fall-out of absent precautionary steps
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 01 2012: Commenting on the present drought like situation which has landed a large number of farmers in serious trouble, many environmentalists and climatologists have said that Government's failure to take up precautionary measures despite being fully aware of the aggravated vagaries of monsoon due to climate change is responsible for the farmers plight.

One scientist working in the Directorate of Environment said that rainfall received by Manipur this year is no less than the volume received by any other Indian State.

The present predicament is a result of habitual dependence on monsoon rain.

for paddy cultivation on one hand and the failure of the Government to build irrigation facilities on the other.

Even after facing drought in 2009 when paddy productivity was drastically reduced, the State Government apparently learnt nothing. The same failure of the Government was glaringly evident this time when it again failed to take up any precautionary measures, the scientist said.

Agriculture Department should have at least taken up some measures to harvest rain water.

Saying that there is a need to change the cropping pattern, he asserted that switching to rabi crops is no solution.

Environmentalist RK Ranjan said that average rainfall in the entire North East region in 2011 was 30 per cent lower than the normal rate.

This year the average rainfall rate has fallen by 37 per cent.

Leave apart the question of implementing the measures incorporated in both the State's and Centre's climate change action plan, Agriculture Department has never shown any seriousness on this matter, Ranjan asserted.

To ward off similar situations in future, there is an urgent need to promote proper rain water harvesting and increase forest covered areas, he stated.

He went on to question what the Disaster Management Department has been doing all these days in face of the drought like situation.

A field visit by this reporter found large tracts of paddy fields being kept uncultivated in Saikot area of Churachandpur district due to acute shortage of water.

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