Assam State Disaster Management Authority asked to declare five districts as drought-hit

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The state Agriculture Department has urged the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASMDA) to declare that a drought-like situation is prevailing in five districts of the state.

These districts are Nagaon, Nalbari, Cachar, Kamrup and Golaghat.

The Assam Legislative Assembly was informed about this on Friday by Agriculture Minister Atul Bora.

BJP MLA Rupak Sarma raised the issue during Zero Hour with specific reference to the Nagaon district. Sarma said that first xali rice cultivation in the Nagaon district was adversely affected by flood and now the problem has been exacerbated by drought-like conditions. He said that according to available information, over 12,000 hectare of agricultural land has been affected by drought in the district. He urged the government to declare the district as drought-hit and also provide compensation to the affected farmers.

Sarma further said that farmers of the state also suffer due to lack of coordination between the Agriculture Department and the Irrigation Department.

In his reply, the Agriculture Minister stated that Assam has also been affected by climate change along with the rest of the world. The ongoing year is providing sufficient proof of this fact because the state has already experienced devastating floods and now a drought-like situation in five districts.

Bora said that the state experienced less rainfall between July-end and August this year and the situation has improved only over the last few days.

The Minister further informed that 34,521.5 hectare of agricultural land have been hit by drought-like conditions in the Nagaon, Nalbari, Cachar, Kamrup and Golaghat districts. Altogether the xali crops of 59,360 farmers' families across 1,234 villages have been affected by the scarcity of water.

Consequently, he said, the Agriculture Department has written to the ASDMA to declare that a drought-like situation is prevailing in these districts. Further, a proposal has been sent to the ASDMA to provide Rs 23.47 crore for grant of compensation to the affected farmers.

The Agriculture Department is also laying stress on accelerated implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Bora said. He informed that a farmer whose xali rice yield drops to less than 50 per cent of the average yield is eligible to claim insurance cover under the PMFBY.

If the drought-like situation continues till September 30 next, then the affected farmers will immediately get 25 per cent of the total stipulated compensation, Bora added.

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