JAGATSINGHPUR Sep 04. Inordinate delay arriving monsoon and scanty rainfall experienced this year have added woes for the farmers of Jagatsinghpur district, due to deficient rainfall agriculture activities in Balikuda, Erasama and Naugaon blocks have badly hit or not yet been progressed normally bringing misery for agriculture dependents and drought like situation has overcome these coastal regions.
District emergency department sources informed that in August the actual rainfall was recorded at 348.29 mm against the normal rainfall of 379.01mm while rainfall occurred 205.94mm against normal rainfall 277.03mm in July, while during the month of June rainfall has reduced to 41mm against average spell of rains 222.03mm while in pre monsoon season May the rainfall has recorded 93.75mm which is 15mm excess against normal rainfall in Jagatsinghpur district this year.
While report added that in the month of August maximum rainfall was occurred in Kujanga block and Balikuda block received lowest rainfall only 68mm, however in post monsoon seasons June and July Balikuda too has experienced lowest rainfalls which are less than the normal rainfall.
usually normal rainfall was essential from June to August for the Khariff agricultural activities especially for paddy cultivation but the situation has turned bad for the non irrigated land due to scarce rainfall in Jagatsinghpur district, if there is no rain in coming days the situation will turn worse and a drought like situation will prevail, informed district agriculture officer Nilamani Das.
District agriculture department sources said that about 98,000 hectares of land has recorded in Jagatsinghpur district for paddy cultivation, from them 22,285 hectares are irrigated by Taladanda canal and Machhagaon canal provides water to 34,083 hectares land and about 15,000 hectares land depend on lift irrigation points, sallow tube wells and Mahanadi barrage water resource and other lands are required for rainfall cultivating paddy but this year scanty rainfall has hit the agriculture works.
farmers from Balikuda and Naugaon blocks have worst affected , few farmers complained that causing meager rainfall agriculture works have lagged behind , owing no rains cracks have been surfaced in land , non functioning of lift irrigation points has compounded farmers woes, if the situation continued the paddy yielding would be drastically reduced , alleged many farmers.
Sources informed that about 43,000 hectares of paddy crops have been severely hit due to measly rain in coastal blocks of Balikuda, Naugaon and Erasama where farmers would be certainly affected.
meanwhile taking the situation alarming district administration had convened an emergency meeting to chalk out plan mitigating scanty rainfall condition on Monday, senior officers from agriculture department, irrigation and lift irrigation and drainage division took part in the meeting and discussed the situation. District collector S K Mallick held talk with irrigation and lifts irrigation department’s engineers and instructed taking needful for the situation. However the meeting witnessed sorry conditions of lift irrigation department stating out of 623 LI points have been installed in district from them 387 are functional, about 6000 sallow tube wells are defunct and the canal water flowing in Machhagaon canal unable to reach tail end of Balikuda area.
The meeting endorsed immediately restoring the defunct LI points and sallow tube wells across the district and irrigation department had instructed to develop the Machhagaon canal’s 16 A, 16 B , 19 A 19 B branch canals for developing water supply to agriculture land and agriculture department had directed conducting spot survey where drought like situation has been erupted .
