Water woes: Manipur declared drought-hit

Imphal: The Manipur government on Saturday declared the state drought-affected due to insufficient rainfall.

The decision was taken following a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh, an official spokesperson of the Relief and Disaster Management Department of Manipur told PTI.

The state would take up several measures on a war footing to fight the drought, he said.

To meet the situation, the state cabinet has decided to open nurseries for paddy plants in 1,000 hectares at a cost of Rs. 2.7 crore.

The meteorological authority said the state received 475 mm of rainfall this year compared to 739.50 mm of rain by end June last year posing a problem for farmers.

The cabinet also decided to purchase 300 water pumps, including 200 of seven horse power at an expenditure of Rs 84 lakh and 100 of five horse power at a cost of Rs 32 lakh, official sources said.

Two hundred temporary dams would also be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 40 lakh.

The cabinet directed the state agriculture department to make workable at least 75 of 150 river water lift irrigation projects which were not functioning.

An estimated Rs 4.41 crores would be spent by the agriculture department, while the minor irrigation department would spend about Rs 1.5 crore.

The state would also seek financial help from the Central Government to fight the drought, P Parijat Singh minister of Health and Family Welfare, Command Area Development Authority and Labour, said.

A task force has been constituted to implement the government decisions on a war-footing, he said.

WATER CRISIS

Even where rains have arrived, many areas still waiting for water. Ujjain for instance has been waiting for a decent supply of tap water for many days.

On Saturday, the city's municipal corporation completely stopped tap water supply in major areas. Come Monday and there will be no water supply through taps in any part of the city. Whatever little water the city has will now only have to be supplied through tankers.

Meanwhile, Delhi is in for pre-monsoon showers by the end of the month, and the monsoons will finally hit in the first week of July.

IMD Director Vikram Singh said, "The southwest monsoon has advanced to some parts of Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. It will furthur advance to other areas of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The conditions are favourable. Pre-monsoon showers are expected in Delhi by June 30 and monsoons will reach Delhi by the first week of July."