The Kerala government has declared the entire state drought-hit, with all 14 districts witnessing successive monsoon failures.
The
northeast monsoon may have just set in, but even if it were to rain
heavily in November and December, it would not be enough to make up for
the past deficiencies.
State Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan made the
announcement in the State Assembly on Monday Oct 31,2016 while replying to a notice
for an adjournment motion.
“There has been 34 per
cent rainfall during the southwest monsoon. The northeast monsoon, which
has set in after a delay, has started off with a 69 % deficit
with hardly any rain in October.”
He said the State
Disaster Management Authority had met under Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan on Friday and decided to declare the entire State drought-hit.
Reservoir levels are at least 22 % lower than the average. Any
significant shortfall in rainfall during the northeast monsoon could
lead to power supply restrictions in the state.
The
declaration of drought also means that a provision of a moratorium
kicks in with respect to agricultural loans, including those drawn from
cooperative banks, the minister said.
The state government will seek
Central aid to overcome the brewing crisis.
District collectors have
been given a 26-point protocol to be followed to undertake
drought-relief measures.
The State Disaster Management Agency had earlier
completed the process of evaluating various parameters for declaring a
drought in various districts.
4 key indices,
including rainfall deficiency, area under sowing, normalised difference
vegetation index (decline in green cover), and moisture adequacy are
weighed in before precipitating a decision in the matter, they added.
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