Bhubaneswar, July 25: Despite sporadic rains in some parts of the state, a severe drought situation continued to stalk several western Orissa districts, even as the state government demanded Rs 500 crore as interim assistance from the Centre to tackle the situation, official sources said. The worst-hit were the districts of Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada and Padampur subdivision of Bargarh, which have come to be known as a rain shadow area. Official sources said that it appeared as if the rains had bypassed the region with agricultural activities suffering greatly. The entire affected area has little irrigation facility and is completely dependent on the monsoon. Highlighting the situation, state minister for agriculture Amar Prasad Satpathy put forth the demand for Rs 500 crore at the conference of agriculture ministers' in Delhi yesterday.
Twenty eight of the state's 30 districts received inadequate rainfall this season, the sources said. A report from Bhawanipatna said Kalahandi district had experienced only six days of rain during June last and four wet days till July 20.
The district received 175.6 mm of precipitation during June last against the normal 228.3 mm and the average had gone up substantially because of 544 mm of rainfall in the hilly Thuamal-Rampur block--known as Cherrapunji of Orissa – during the month.
Bureau Report