THE DROUGHT has officially set in. The Meteorological Department of India on Thursday has confirmed that 2009 has been a typical drought year. Till now, eight states have been significantly affected by the drought. S Kaur, Director General at the meteorological department declared this in light of the figures for the week ending August 12. During this week, the department registered 27.4mm of rainfall, 56 per cent less than all-India average. The country, on an average, receives 62.7mm of rainfall. Of the 36 weather divisions set up by the department all over India, 31 received scant or deficient rains – this accounts for about 161 of 600 districts.

On a regional basis, North-West India registered a 42 per cent deficiency in rainfall, followed by North-East India which received 36 per cent less rain; the Southern peninsula registered a 22 percent deficit while the Central region registered a 29 per cent shortfall. India which is still a largely agricultural economy is a rain-dependent economy and is heavily dependent on rainfall as a source of irrigation. Deficient rains this year has destroyed some of the sugarcane crop leading to a rise in the prices of sugar. Further, a large amount of winter sown crops, including wheat, that were to be sown in train-fed fields now have to depend on other forms of irrigation such as ground water which is also scarce.

It was hoped that this year even though the rains had begun much later than their usual target of June 1, that the situation would still be manageable. However the month of June proved to be the driest in about 83 years. The department had been providing rainfall forecasts for all drought-affected areas and had to constantly revise the figures later. Though rainfall did go on to improve in certain regions since last month, rains are still 29 per cent below normal. Eastern UP, Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand are a few of the States affected by this dire situation. Bihar, in fact is facing the onslaught of a dual tragedy, with floods in the Northern parts of Bihar and drought in the Southern areas. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar declare drought in several regions of the State on Monday.

With such a drought, fears of a food crisis have also started to surface. While the government has assured that it has sufficient food stocks to tide over any possible crisis, these fears can lead to hoarding of grains as well as the prospect of increased inflation. The department has just reported that there would be heavy showers in the next few weeks over the Central regions and the North-West.