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Sun`s victims: Pioneer
New Delhi, June 04: Any hope one might have harboured of last year`s severe drought, the worst in 15 years, being followed by a bountiful monsoon, is already in the process of evaporation. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the South-West monsoon will be below normal this year, and there is a 21 per cent probability of a drought this year too.
New Delhi, June 04: Any hope one might have harboured of last year`s severe drought, the worst in 15 years, being followed by a bountiful monsoon, is already in the process of evaporation. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the South-West monsoon will be below normal this year, and there is a 21 per cent probability of a drought this year too.
In fact, the effect of what is really speaking a continuation of last year`s drought, has been compounded by a fierce heat wave that started with the onset of summer. A large tract of the country, from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the South to Haryana and Punjab in the North, and from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in the Southeast to Maharashtra and Gujarat in the West, have been affected, with Kothegudam in Andhra Pradesh registering the highest temperature-52 degrees celsius-until date. The heat wave has claimed, at the time of writing, 1,020 lives in Andhra Pradesh and 120 in Orissa.
This is absolutely unpardonable. Most of the deaths might have been avoided if the information, publicity and public relations departments of the State Governments concerned had issued, in time, a series of preventive measures to be taken. The deaths resulting from drought could have been averted had drought relief work started in time, ample foodgrain been stocked at the Gram Panchayat level to ensure prompt disbursement to the deserving, and proper listing of people who are below the poverty line, done.
Cattle could have been saved if arrangements had been made to stockpile fodder at the Panchayat level and to provide urgently needed supplies of water through tankers and the digging of wells wherever feasible.
Lack of funds cannot be cited as an excuse. In November last year, the Centre announced a Rs 2,000-crore package from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) for 14 drought-hit States. It also decided to allocate an additional Rs 12 crore to Rajasthan, the worst-affected State, western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for providing fodder to the people, and another five lakh and one lakh tonnes of foodgrain to Rajasthan and Orissa respectively. Tamil Nadu has been granted Rs 322.06 crore from the NCCF and 350,000 tonnes of foodgrain to cope with the drought.
Last year in Parliament, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the allocation for the food-for-work and rural employment programmes would be Rs 10,000 crore against the provision of Rs 5,000 crore in last year`s budget. Clearly, some of the State Governments have been criminally negligent and callous. Some way has to be found to make them more responsive and accountable if the benefits of the Central allocations are to reach those that these are meant for-and when they are alive. The Centre should take up the matter with the State Governments. Meanwhile, efforts should be made to increase the availability of water in the traditionally drought-prone areas through more scientific methods of water management, including the location of new underground acquifers and arrangements for their recharging.
In fact, the effect of what is really speaking a continuation of last year`s drought, has been compounded by a fierce heat wave that started with the onset of summer. A large tract of the country, from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the South to Haryana and Punjab in the North, and from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa in the Southeast to Maharashtra and Gujarat in the West, have been affected, with Kothegudam in Andhra Pradesh registering the highest temperature-52 degrees celsius-until date. The heat wave has claimed, at the time of writing, 1,020 lives in Andhra Pradesh and 120 in Orissa.
This is absolutely unpardonable. Most of the deaths might have been avoided if the information, publicity and public relations departments of the State Governments concerned had issued, in time, a series of preventive measures to be taken. The deaths resulting from drought could have been averted had drought relief work started in time, ample foodgrain been stocked at the Gram Panchayat level to ensure prompt disbursement to the deserving, and proper listing of people who are below the poverty line, done.
Cattle could have been saved if arrangements had been made to stockpile fodder at the Panchayat level and to provide urgently needed supplies of water through tankers and the digging of wells wherever feasible.
Lack of funds cannot be cited as an excuse. In November last year, the Centre announced a Rs 2,000-crore package from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) for 14 drought-hit States. It also decided to allocate an additional Rs 12 crore to Rajasthan, the worst-affected State, western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for providing fodder to the people, and another five lakh and one lakh tonnes of foodgrain to Rajasthan and Orissa respectively. Tamil Nadu has been granted Rs 322.06 crore from the NCCF and 350,000 tonnes of foodgrain to cope with the drought.
Last year in Parliament, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the allocation for the food-for-work and rural employment programmes would be Rs 10,000 crore against the provision of Rs 5,000 crore in last year`s budget. Clearly, some of the State Governments have been criminally negligent and callous. Some way has to be found to make them more responsive and accountable if the benefits of the Central allocations are to reach those that these are meant for-and when they are alive. The Centre should take up the matter with the State Governments. Meanwhile, efforts should be made to increase the availability of water in the traditionally drought-prone areas through more scientific methods of water management, including the location of new underground acquifers and arrangements for their recharging.