With 90 per cent rain deficit, Kerala stares at drought

Even as the southwest monsoon hit Keralas shores on June 8 the progress of the rains since then has been abysmal with the threat of drought looming large over the stateKerala has received only 8771 mm of rainfall against an estimated 1556 mm between June 1 and August 15 causing a shortage of 44 per cent of rain according to weather reportsFrom August 1 to August 15 the state received only 251 mm rainfall instead of the expected 2546 mm and this led to around 90 per cent deficit In Kerala the monsoon generally touches the peak during August Now the state is staring at a massive drought The IMD has also predicted that Kerala will not get rain for the next 15 days Things are not rosy in September either Of the 20187 mm average monsoon rainfall September accounts for only 13 per centPaddy farming to take hitSources in the Kerala government told IANS that the state is relying mainly on the southwest monsoon for farming and if the rains play hide and seek paddy farming will take a hitDr R Rajeev who retired from a national weather agency said ldquoThere is a droughtlike condition in Kerala and the possibility of heavy rain making up the present losses is bleak We are expecting showers in September and it has to be seen how much effective they will be given the present weather conditions in the PacificLegal action against 21 dam managements in HPThe Himachal Pradesh government has found that 21 out of the 23 dams in the state have violated safety norms and said it will take action against their managementsOfficials said the lack of monitoring by government agencies is also being blamed for the violationsChief Secretary Prabodh Saxena told PTI on Sunday that officers have been directed to prepare a detailed report on the damage caused due to the negligence of the dam authoritiesThe officials said the HP State Electricity Boardoperated Larji hydropower project in Mandi and Jateon in Sirmaur and the HP Power Corporationrun Sawra Kuddu project in Shimla and Sainj in Kullu are among the violatorsThe flooding in lowlying areas in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh has been attributed to the release of water from the Pong Pandoh and Malana dams the officials addedThe officials said only the Kol Dam in Bilaspur and the Karcham Wangtoo project in Kinnaur adhered to the water release guidelinesCentre gives HP Rs 200 croreMeanwhile the Centre on Sunday approved the release of Rs 200 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund as advance assistance to Himachal Pradesh to help with relief measures for affected peopleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever