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Chhattisgarh reeling under severe drought

The newly-born state of Chhattisgarh is reeling under a severe drought.

The drought has accentuated the drinking water problem and the state is witnessing a large-scale migration of people.

This is likely to reflect in the census scheduled next month with a long-term impact on the planning process and central allocation as majority of the migrants belong to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, according to sources.

While the gram panchayats (village governing bodies) maintain a record of migrants, which shows migration of less than 400,000 people so far, official sources admit that the number is much more.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Nand Kumar Sai has claimed that more than a million people migrated from Chhattisgarh this year.

Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, concerned over the emerging situation, has sought assistance of nearly Rs 5.7 billion from the central government to tide over the drought situation.

Jogi has had three rounds of discussions with Union Agriculture Minister Nitish Kumar and other ministers who have repeatedly assured help to the new state. However, the central government has not yet provided any financial assistance, barring allocation of 96,000 tonnes of foodgrains for starting relief works under the ''food for work'' scheme, sources said.

The abolition of the National Calamity Relief Fund has come as a set-back to the Jogi government with the central government also finding itself helpless in providing assistance to meet any natural calamity.

However, Jogi has reiterated that the state government will extend all possible relief to the drought-hit areas with its limited financial resources.

With 11 of the 16 districts facing severe drought, the state government has already allocated Rs 203 million for starting 11,614 relief works providing employment to more than 200,000 people.

In Raipur division all but three of the 40 tehsils (blocks) have been declared drought-hit, while 24 of the 42 tehsils in Bilaspur division are affected.

The situation in tribal-dominated Bastar division has been further compounded with the drinking water shortage in Jagdalpur town and several villages along the tribal district's life-line Indrawati river, which has changed its course after the Orissa government constructed a dam upstream.

The water problem will worsen in the coming months with ponds in several villages having gone dry. Even in the sanctuaries like Barnawapara sanctuary, the forest authorities have taken steps to construct water holes for the wildlife as water shortage was being felt even before the onset of summer, sources said.

UNI

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