Central teams to assess damage caused by drought in 129 blocks
Nine members will visit these blocks for three days and send a report to the Union government for drought package
RANCHI: Three central teams, each comprising three members, will assess the damage in drought-affected areas in the state from Friday to Sunday. They reached Ranchi on Thursday evening.
The audit comes after the Jharkhand government declared its 129 blocks of the total 264 drought hit, officials said.
The teams are led by Atish Chandra, the joint secretary of the Union ministry of agriculture cooperation and farmers welfare, Ashok Kumar, the special secretary at the state disaster management department, said. They are scheduled to return to Delhi on Sunday evening.
On November 18, the state government, under the Centre’s manual of drought management, notified 93 blocks severely affected and 36 blocks in 18 districts as moderately affected by drought.
After the notification, the state disaster management department along with the agriculture department assessed the damage and sent a report to the Centre for financial assistance.
The state has demanded a drought package of Rs 818 crore from the Centre for farmers. If the central teams ratified Jharkhand’s assessment, a farmer from a drought-hit block will receive compensation for a maximum of two hectares of land. The state audit had earmarked Rs 13,500 a hectare for irrigated land, and Rs 6,800 for non-irrigated areas, officials said. Delayed and deficient monsoon led to the damage of kharif crops. The state received 784.4mm of rainfall against the normal of 1092 mm during monsoon months between June and September — 28% deficit.
The erratic monsoon affected paddy sowing most. Jharkhand registered 84.84% paddy sowing coverage this kharif season compared to 97% in the same period last year.
The state agriculture department has proposed to distribute seeds for rabi crops at a 90% subsidy in the drought affected blocks. Besides, it also wants to increase the number of workdays to 150 from 100 under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MNREGA).
Opposition parties, however, alleged that the state government was slow in declaring these blocks drought affected. “Now, the situation has turned into famine. The central teams should consider this,” Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said.
He said farmers had been suffering for the past two months. “The teams are visiting in rabi season to assess the loss for kharif season owing to state government’s negligence,” he said.
DELAYED AND DEFICIENT MONSOON LED TO THE DAMAGE OF KHARIF CROPS. THE STATE RECEIVED 784.4MM OF RAINFALL AGAINST THE NORMAL OF 1092 MM DURING MONSOON MONTHS BETWEEN JUNE AND SEPTEMBER — 28% DEFICIT