Offsetting drought impact : Is it enough ?
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: July 25, 2012 -

Cracks developing in a paddy field following deficient rainfall :: Pix - HL

At long last, poor farmers in the State who for long have been glaring at the possible prospect of drought and resultant low food production may now be able to leave behind their worries and concentrate on their works.

While Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has pressed the alarm bell on drought following monsoon rain recording 22 percent deficiency this time, the State Cabinet has taken the decision of making all the River Lift Irrigation (RLI) stations functional.

This should be sufficient reason for the worried farmers to take a deep sigh of relief. Identification of all paddy fields in state which have no access to source of water or cannot be irrigated through RLI or water pump sets is also on the card.

Just as the Prime Minister has directed all the Departments and Ministries to co-ordinate with State Governments concerned to meet any eventuality by monitoring the situation on a weekly basis, the State Cabinet too has recommended the Agriculture Department to liaise and co-ordinate with other departments both at the state and local level to ensure irrigation and extension services wherever feasible in the State.

It is also learnt that the Central government has prepared extensive plans to deal with the deficiency in monsoon rainfall in some parts of the country including Manipur and is in full readiness to address any situation that may due to any rainfall anomalies.

It is a well-known fact that with agricultural activities largely dependent on monsoon, failure or shortage of monsoon rain always spells disaster for rice growing states like Manipur.

So, the concern of the farmers who have been crying hoarse against the state government for declaration of drought was understandable.

With seasonal rain playing hide and seek, farmers in the state who are yet to recover from the impact of one of the worst drought situations in 2009, would surely spend sleepless nights over the prospect of facing another drought that would leave them nowhere.

As we have pointed out earlier though this column, rushing to declare drought every time the monsoon fails to keep its annual rendezvous could never be a permanent solution to the problem of recurring drought in the state.

With sweeping climatic changes taking place and the resultant erratic rainfall patterns being experienced over the years, the state government and its related departments need to remain on its toes always.

However, it is sad to know that the Government of Manipur is still ill-equip and has not learnt anything from the past experiences.

In 2009, declaration of drought in State and its approval by the Centre came rather quickly giving no sleepless nights to the worried farmers. But this time, the Cabinet decision of reactivating all the existing RLI stations and providing fuel to farmers for operation of water pump sets to drain water to the dry fields has come at the fag end of a looming crisis.

This clearly indicates the ill-preparedness of the state government to face a crisis that is likely to become a recurring phenomenon rather than some seasonal aberrations.

By the way, out of the 242 MI schemes that were supposedly taken up in different parts of the State, how many of them are in still working condition today for the government to talk about reactivating them to offset drought impact?