North East India, is largely dependent on the monsoon for its agricultural activities. The State normally receives heavy rainfall during this time of the year but instead it has experienced the highest rainfall deficit in the last 30 years, with weathermen and environmentalists alike attributing changes in climatic conditions to global warming. The North East Comprises of eight States namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim. This year, the monsoon has played hide and seek in the region with Manipur taking the biggest beating. According to official records from the Meteorological Department here, Manipur recorded 67 per cent deficit rainfall (till July 20), making it the worst affected State in the region, followed by Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh in descending order with rainfall shortage of 62 per cent, 55 per cent, 34 per cent, 32 per cent, 30 per cent and 29 per cent respectively.

As a fallout, temperatures have also shot up in the region with official sources quoting a rise of almost 5 degrees Celsius on an average in the last two decades. Due to scarcity of rainfall, the entire State of Manipur was declared to be drought-hit by the Central government on July 14, although the State government of Manipur had already announced all its nine districts as drought-affected, at the recommendation of its Cabinet on June 20.

To cope with the situation, the State government has initiated various measures including upgrading the existing River Lift Irrigation (RLI) schemes located in different parts of the State and providing water pump sets to farmers to irrigate their parched paddy fields. On July 13, Th Debendra, Forest and Environment Minister, Government of Manipur announced on the floor of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, that an action plan of Rs5.91 crores would be formulated to conserve the existing wetlands and protect the ecosystem to check climate change.

In the early 20th century, Manipur had about 500 wetlands. But today even the few existing ones are on the verge of drying up because of climate change and human interference. A recent survey conducted by the Environment and Ecology Wing of the State Forest Department, pointed out that only 19 wetlands are left in Manipur.