Dry State: Gujarat hoping rain forecasts come true

Even though overall monsoon rainfall has been a tad above the Long Period Average (LPA) for the country, Gujarat remains the driest place and faces a severe rainfall deficit of 73 per cent of the LPA.

As the key sowing period of July nears its end, the State government is betting big on the optimistic forecasts by weather watch agencies, including the India Meteorological Department and a few private ones.

As of 8 am on July 27, the State has received 215.38 mm of rainfall as against the LPA of 797 mm. The impact of deficient rainfall is clearly visible on the sowing pattern with a significant drop of around 28 per cent in cotton acreage.

But groundnut has managed to maintain its acreage as farmers chose the oilseed over the fibre crop, which repeatedly faces pest attacks. Surprisingly, acreage under pulses has registered an increase of over 30 per cent in the state.

“The situation is serious in most parts as there is no water for irrigation. Only those areas that had received scattered rains have some water stored in water bodies,” Babubhai Bokhiriya, Gujarat’s Minister for Water Resources and Agriculture, told BusinessLine .

“There is water in the Narmada Dam (to supply canals), with which we can supply the command area for the next 8-10 days. This is the most crucial period. The forecast hints at a good rainfall during this time and we are hopeful of it,” he added.

However, Bokhiriya also expressed his concerns about a possibility of insufficient rainfall in the season.

“If it doesn’t rain in this period, we will not have water available for irrigation. Water for drinking purpose will get priority. We are also preparing to deal with employment issues and fodder,” he said.

The 202 reservoirs in the State have only 27 per cent of live water storage. The condition of reservoirs in Saurashtra and Kutch is worse with water storage dipping below to as low as zero in several districts.

Already reports have started coming about crop damage due to non-availability of water.

“We had sown cotton and groundnut on 40 bighas (approx 20 acre) of land when it rained last month. But since the last week of June, it hasn’t rained. We have no hope for cotton as it has already dried, but we look forward to save groundnut at least, otherwise it will be a complete loss,” said Rameshbhai Pan, a farmer in Morbi.

The Met Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over Gujarat on July 28, while heavy rainfall is expected at isolated places in Saurashtra and Kutch.

“Rainfall activity is likely to increase over north-west India from July 26 onwards,” the IMD has stated.

In its forecast for the week ending July 31, private weather agency Skymet reported that Central India, including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and East Rajasthan, will receive moderate to heavy showers. But the intensity will decrease after July 27.

COMMENT NOW