NEW DELHI, Aug 29, Reuters, Heavy rains lashing India have brought relief to parched areas and rvived withering crops but. The summer drought is not yet officially over, officials said today.
IT looks like it’s over but it’s too early to say. A senior agriculture ministry official said of the rains ‘sweeping India for the past two Weeks, which caused spectacular flooding when they hit Delhi yesterday,
‘Things are far better than they were but till we pass mid-September I would not say everything is okay, added the official, who asked not to be identified.
A long delay in the arrival of the summer monsoon, which usually brings rain from early July to September, caused crisis conditions in much of India and aroused.
Fears of one of the worst droughts ‘of the century and possible famine.
Fourteen of India’s states and territories have asked the Central Government for drought relief to talling 33.74 billion rupees (2.59 billion dollars), according to press reports,
He said there had been heavy rains throughout the country during the past two weeks.
This has really raised prospects quite a large extent. It is not sufficient to combat the entire drought situation but it has raised hopes.
The cumulative impact of the drought would not be clear until late September or mid-October, he added.
However, prospects of further rain were good thanks to a depression the remnant of a typhoon from the South China Sea~ that was causing heavy precipitation over central Madhya Pradesh State and was moving westward.
The Agriculture Ministry Official said the rains were expected to revive 0 a great extent crops that had been withering for lack of moisture,
The rice crop will be revived, sorghum will benefit where it has been planted and so will groundnuts, which were suffering in the south of the country, he said.
‘The substantial drop in blazing summer temperatures brought by the rains would also reduce demands on drinking water and hydroelectric power.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 4, 1987
