No sign of rain, situation grim in interior

BHUBANESWAR: The Congress has warned that there will be severe drinking water problem in the ensuing days as drought looms large. A seven-member team of the Congress, led by former minister Narasingh Mishra, visited worst-affected Nuapada, Boudh, Sonepur, Jharsuguda and Kalahandi districts from August 23 to August 27 to assess the situation. Mishra told this paper that in all the districts, the situation was very grim. No cultivation was done on 40 to 50 per cent of agricultural land in these districts. In the rest of the land on which paddy was cultivated, more than 50 per cent crop has been damaged. Though the situation has deteriorated to such an extent, the State Government did not initiate any action so far to infuse confidence among the farmers, he said. Mishra said in Kalahandi district crop  even in irrigated area has been damaged. The team reviewed the situation with the district officials, made field visits and discussed with the people the difficulties faced by them. Even though the Chief Minister had announced that all defunct lift irrigation (LI) points will be repaired, nowhere it has been done. In Nuapada district 77 LI points out of 147 are defunct for the last two years. But not one of them has been repaired, Mishra said and added that the rest 70 are also not working properly for disruption in electricity supply and low voltage problem. The team found that funds required for repair of LI points have not been released to the districts. Nayagarh district requires Rs. 9 crore for restoration of defunct LI points. But so far no fund has been released. Mishra said water scarcity has also become acute as all sources like ponds have dried up. If there is no rain, the situation will become very serious, he added. The team members included former ministers Jagannath Patnaik and Kishore Patel, former MLAs Chiranjib Biswal and Dhanurjay Sidhu, and Suresh Mohapatra.