Ministerial teams had inspected the parched paddy field yesterday. Something will surely come out of it. Sending them for inspection of the paddy field was a wise decision that will help these ministers to take a decision on whether to declare Manipur drought affected state or not. The problem with the executive class is that they cannot take decision quickly. We had witnessed in the past drought like situation occurring every now and then. But there had been no occasion when paddy cultivation was stopped due to shortage of monsoon rain. Our agricultural activities are heavily dependent on rain. If there is sufficient rain there will be sufficient food grain production. What we have seen and all that we have heard must act as eye opener. To avert repetition of similar situation in future steps have to be taken to better irrigation system to feed water collected from river to the paddy field. Almost all the rivers in the state are full with water. Water can be collected from the rivers with the help of pumps which can be used to drench the parched paddy fields. The state Government has too many departments to take care of the need of the farmers. The officials of these departments could have been flanked out to supervise the paddy field in the same manner ministers supervising paddy fields to prepare a report on what the Government could do to avert the ugly situation created by paucity of rain water. Simple question arises what were they doing then when there was enough time to take steps to strengthen irrigation facilities. Like a shirking man waiting to receive directives on what he should do these officials wasted precious time without doing anything. Now the onus of suggesting where a canal should run has been put on the Ministers. These ministers will also decide where the pumps are to be installed. Canal projects that were constructed earlier to irrigate paddy fields have become non operational or simply there is no water at such project. Rain continues to hit town areas of Imphal but not the paddy field. River in spate stands out as a sharp contrast to the parched paddy field. Why it happens? A serious thinking on the matter is called for. Enough funds have to be earmarked to improve irrigation system in the state. Manipur is different from other NE states excluding Assam. 80 percent of the people of the state are farmers and they make a living by cultivating paddy fields. In other hilly terrain states of the region cultivation is launched on casual manner because there is no stretch of land which can be used for paddy cultivation. Union Government has to be convinced on the need for providing more funds to the state for taking up water reservoir projects for irrigating paddy fields. The Ministers having witnessed the parched paddy fields of the state might have evolved their own ideas to tackle the problems of drought in Manipur. It will be interesting to know what the Government is going to do based on the report of the ministerial teams.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/drought-in-manipur/
