Opinion First drought, now floods damage crops in UP

The floods are also likely to lead to a demand by the state government for financial assistance from the Centre to provide compensation to people who have lost their houses and crops in the floods.

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Ramendra Singh

LucknowAugust 22, 2016 02:55 PM IST First published on: Aug 22, 2016 at 02:54 PM IST

Administration officials estimate that nearly 8 lakh people have been affected by floods in Uttar Pradesh.

With a good monsoon coming after the last few years, Uttar Pradesh has received beyond normal rainfall this summer, causing floods in more than 25 districts and disturbing the lives of lakhs of people, many of whom have lost their homes, cattle, crops and have had to abandon their inundated villages.

As many as 43 persons have died in rain-related incidents in eastern UP, Bundelkhand and Terai regions, according to the administration officials who estimate that nearly 8 lakh people are affected by floods. The NDRF and state’s Provincial Armed Constabulary have been pressed into service for rescue and relief operations.

Many rivers including Yamuna and Ganga are fluctuating around the danger mark in many places. Ken and Betwa in Bundelkhand are flowing above danger mark and Ghaghra and Sharda in Terai are touching the danger mark, with thousands of surrounding low-lying villages submerged in water.

A region like Bundelkhand which had not received normal rainfall in nearly a decade and had been suffering from drought year after year, has many of its areas flooded, with the districts of Banda, Mahoba, Lalitpur and Chitrakoot suffering the most.

While the rains were most desired in the region with depleted water reservoirs, and decreased levels of ground water, the floods have caused damage to kharif crops in a large area of land, leaving the distressed farmers with yet another season of crop failure. In last few years of drought, the region had shifted towards kharif crops like sesame seeds which need less rainfall suitable to grow, and now they have been hit the hardest by the floods.

Eight districts have reported the estimated loss of crop of more than Rs 1,216 lakh. About one dozen districts estimate that over 30,000 hectares of sown crops have been affected by the floods, even as the reports from all the affected districts are yet to arrive.
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The floods are also likely to lead to a demand by the state government for financial assistance from the Centre to provide compensation to people who have lost their houses and crops in the floods. The state government has already accused the central government of not giving state its dues. The tussle is likely to further strain the relationship between the two in the year leading up to high-voltage assembly elections when politics is linked to every issue and controversy.

The loss of rabi crop by untimely rains and hailstorm last year had led to a war of words between the Centre and the state. While the state government accused the Centre of not providing adequate financial assistance, the latter accused the Akhilesh Yadav government of being unable to utilise the funds provided to it. Even then, the farmers continued to suffer because of defective surveys of crop loss and distributions of measly compensations, with a few farmers receiving just about Rs 100 as compensation.