IMD issued heavy rainfall alert in these states for next 5 days

The southwest monsoon, which began its tenuous withdrawal from Northwest India last week, seems to have pulled the brakes on its departure since. IMD issued heavy rainfall alert in these states for next 5 days. IMD issued heavy rainfall alert in the Punjab-Haryana-Delhi belt over the previous 4-5 days. Punjab and Haryana’s paddy and cotton farmers have reported severe crop loss due to the rains, and over 1.5 lakh hectares of paddy crop have been damaged in just Punjab, as per preliminary surveys.

The monsoon’s mischief has landed the farmers in knee-deep waters. Unexpected wet conditions resulted in the fields being waterlogged, leading to higher moisture content in paddy (which can lead to poor grain quality, development of odour) and discolouration, making the produce harder to sell. Recent accounts indicate that the worst-affected districts were those where early varieties were planted, and the crop was near harvest when the rains began.

An estimated 40,000 hectares in Ludhiana, 35,000 hectares in Patiala and 30,000 hectares in Mohali have been affected by rain. Apart from these, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Mansa, Muktsar and Tarn Taran districts, were also impacted. The only silver lining in these dark clouds is that the late sown areas are safe, and an uninterrupted spell of sunshine could help salvage the situation.

Farmer unionist Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) said: “The compensation for damage to paddy crop due to July’s heavy rain in Fazilka and Muktsar districts and the loss to cotton in Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, and Fazilka due to pest attack has not reached the farmers, so far. If the crop is damaged, the government should consider it a natural calamity and pay us adequate compensation.”

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Financial losses aside, there is the problem of how this reduced yield can impact India. During the Kharif season, paddy was sown over 30.84 lakh hectares (75.5 lakh acres). But the combination of the recent five-day rain spell across Northwest India and the jarring rainfall deficiencies in some major rice-producing states like West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh this season has resulted in the paddy output taking a hit.