Statesman News Service
MALDA, Aug. 17: The district administration and the farmers’ community are worried about the prevailing drought-like condition in this region. Other places affected by the dry spell include North Bengal and the north-eastern region including Assam. It is being feared that the agricultural sector as well as tea plantation may be badly hit, in case this drought-like condition continues for a longer period, officials said today. Temperatures have been soaring in this region since the last few days. Due to this, farmers have been unable to transplant aman crop in the absence of rainfall as per the 15 August “dead line” set by the administration in Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur districts. The Malda agriculture department has identified three blocks ~ Gazole, Habibpur and Old Malda ~ as worst affected. Owing to lack of river lifting irrigation, most farmers here could not cultivate aman crop this year. This has also adversely affected the retting of jute crop in this region. Reportedly, this district has recorded a shortfall of 700 mm of rainfall out of the 1,450 mm received on an average. Malda irrigation officials said that the northern region has not received sufficient rain till now. Today, officials recorded water-level of the Ganges at Manikchak ghaat in Malda as 23.40 metres. This year, the highest water-level recorded in the Ganges was 23.48 metres in July. It was found that by this time the previous year, the water-level in the Ganges was much higher. As per forecast by meteorological officials, rain or thundershowers are likely to occur at places over Orissa and Gangetic West Bengal at a few places over sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. In North-east India, (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland , Manipur and Tripura , Assam and Meghalaya), rain or thundershowers are likely at a few places.
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