Patna,(BiharTimes): Though Bihar has till now saw 30 per cent deficient rainfall this monsoon yet it has not been declared drought hit. Thirty-three out of 38 districts are virtually in the grip of drought.
Over 10 lakh hectares of paddy fields are still lying barren even as cultivation season is at its fag end. It is feared that the paddy production would once again fall this year.
According to deputy director, agriculture, Ashok Prasad, only 77.34 per cent of the total target cultivation area in kharif season of 36 lakh hectares has been brought under paddy transplantation till August 22. This year paddy cultivation has been done on 26.29 lakh hectares only against 30.25 lakh hectare in 2012.
What is strange is that notwithstanding such a situation and repeated demand by the opposition parties the Nitish government has not yet declared Bihar as drought-hit state.
The former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi reiterated that the Nitish government has neither declared the state drought-hit nor is it making adequate arrangements to overcome the situation. In 2010, when Bihar had 21 per cent deficit rainfall, the state was declared drought-hit, but now when the state is experiencing 30 per cent shortfall, nothing is being done, he added.
Till August 22 Bihar has received 512mm rainfall against the normal average rainfall of 730mm.
Sheohar is the worst affected as it has 68 per cent rainfall deficit, followed by Muzaffarpur and Patna which have a deficit of 54 and 52 per cent respectively. Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, Banka, Aurangabad
and Jehanabad have a shortfall of 31, 28, 34, 37 and 32 per cent.
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