Lucknow. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said that today the entire state is in the grip of drought. There are lines of concern on the foreheads of the farmers. Kharif sowing has been halted due to lack of rain. Drought has also started looming large over the alleged plantation drive of the government. But the BJP government is not paying any attention to this.
The SP president said that there is an estimate that this year the kharif sown is expected to be less by six lakh hectares. The state government has set a target of planting 60 lakh hectares of paddy while only 27 lakh hectares of paddy has been planted so far. Electricity is also not available in the state. There is neither electricity nor water for irrigation. Rajwahs are dry. There is no water left in the pond. The animals are not getting drinking water and no fodder and straw.
The BJP government ends its duty by issuing an alert. The SP president said that the state government planted 30 crore saplings without knowing the weather. When there is no rain, it is natural for the water to dry up, now neither the plants are left nor the ponds are full of water. Bundelkhand has been neglected a lot during the BJP rule. Due to the policies of BJP, the state is slipping down at every stage of development.
Let us inform that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has held a meeting regarding the absurdity of monsoon in UP. Major rivers, canals and reservoirs may have enough water bodies, but reports of nearly 62 per cent below normal rainfall have alerted the government. A day earlier, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while reviewing the monsoon situation, directed all the relief departments to remain on alert mode. Describing the next one week as challenging, he said that we have to be ready for all situations.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had reviewed the monsoon situation with senior officials of the government at his official residence on Thursday. It reported that only 76.6 mm of rainfall has been received till July 13 this year under the influence of Southwest Monsoon, which is about 62 percent less than the normal rainfall of 199.7 mm.
Meanwhile, Agra remained the only district that received normal rainfall. Lalitpur, Firozabad, Varanasi and Hapur have received normal (80 to 120 per cent) and below normal (60-80 per cent) in Kheri, Deoria, Etah and Bijnor. There are 19 districts where till now only 40 to 60 percent of the normal rainfall has been recorded.
On this, CM Yogi had said that this time there is a delay in monsoon. However, along with irrigation from natural rain water, the irrigation facility has been improved by the expansion of canals, tube wells by the government. All the major rivers, canals and reservoirs have sufficient water as per the current situation. This is a satisfactory condition.
He had said that sowing of Kharif crops has been affected due to less rainfall. Under Kharif Campaign 2022-23, till July 13, 42.41 lakh hectare has been sown in the state against the target of 96.03 lakh hectare, which is only 44.16 percent of the target. In this also 45 per cent of paddy is sown alone. Last year till the same date, 53.46 lakh hectares of land had been sown.
The Chief Minister had said that according to the estimates of meteorologists, there is a possibility of good rainfall from July 18. Delayed sowing affects the yield, but we have to be prepared for alternative arrangements. A plan of action should be prepared for all situations. Agriculture, Irrigation, Relief, Revenue etc related departments should be in alert mode.
His emphasis was on giving special attention to districts like Banda, Chandauli, Hamirpur, Deoria, Jalaun as well as Ballia, Basti, Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Sant Kabirnagar and Shravasti. Yogi had said that the next one week can be challenging for us. Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra and other officials were present in the meeting.
