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Round The States
New
Delhi, 9 April 2008
Wheat Crop Damaged
UNSEASONAL RAINS
CAUSE CONCERN
By Insaf
Untimely rains in Punjab,
Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh last week have set the alarm bells ringing for
the UPA government at the Centre. Saddled already with a sharp rise in prices
of food and other commodities, the rains now threaten to play havoc with the
country’s wheat stocks. While the impact may be less on wheat sown late, the
quality of the crop ready for harvesting will certainly be affected, admit
officials. Worse, hailstorm in addition to rains can damage the crop more, like
it has done in parts of Kanpur, Etawah, Hathras
and Aligarh in
Uttar Pradesh. The Union Ministry of Agriculture has asked the States to send
in their impact assessment reports to comprehend the extent of damage suffered
so far. As it is, the advanced estimates of the Government in February last had
suggested that normal production of wheat was set to fall by nearly one billion
tones (MT) below last year’s production. It can ill afford another setback.
While the rain god appears to have taken a break, reports
reaching the Centre till Tuesday last suggest that the damage to the wheat crop
was fortunately “localised” and would not impact targeted overall wheat
production. In UP, the agriculture scientists have estimated that the loss
varied between five and eight per cent. In Haryana, standing crop in about one
lakh hectares had been damaged, according to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The CM has asked the Union Food Minister Sharad Pawar to link the Minimum
Support Price (MSP) with the price index or evolve a formula to fix the MSP and
review norms of natural calamities relief fund in the larger interest of the
farming community. While Pawar has agreed to give a thought to the suggestion,
right now wheat production and the impact of un-seasonal rains is of immediate
concern. If need be, the Government would consider import of foodgrains.
* * * *
Army Stays Put In
J&K
The Army is staying put in Jammu and Kashmir for at least the next five
years, but with some good news for the common man. Clear indications to this
effect came on Friday last, when the Centre decided to pay huge rentals to
owners of land and orchards occupied by the Army in the troubled State. At the
same time, after dithering for a full year, the UPA Government has made known
to its coalition partner in the State, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and
separatists that the security situation did not call for a withdrawal of troops
as demanded. The hike in rentals is to the tune of: Rs 10,000 per kanal (about
1/8th of an acre) instead of Rs 1,575 for fruit-bearing orchards, Rs
3, 381 instead of Rs 1,1,25 per kanal for irrigated land, Rs 16,875 instead of
Rs 3,357 for land falling under municipal councils etc. The Centre is confident
that this “realistic payment” to people will to some extent defuse anger and
that a possible “relocation and reconfiguration” of the forces would ease
civilians lives. How right is the strategy will be known after six months: Assembly
elections are due this November.
* * * *
Star Wars On Hold!
Thanks to Karnataka elections next month and ‘star wars’,
the controversial Hogenakkal water project in Tamil Nadu has been put on hold,
ending the week-long stand-off between the two southern States. DMK chief and
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Karunanidhi’s assertion last week that work on the
drinking water project would go ahead, had triggered violence in Karnataka.
Even film stars of both States got involved in the controversy and the South
Indian Artistes Association in Chennai and the Karnataka Film Chamber of
Commerce lodged their protests by fasts and dharna. Caught in the “star war’
and the fact that its ally at the Centre, the Congress was trying to regain
power in the May elections in Karnataka, against a belligerent BJP, Karunanidhi
stepped back. On Saturday last he declared:“Let bygones be bygones. We will
wait till an elected government assumes charge in Karnataka after the polls.”
The decision was welcomed by former Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka S M Krishna, but denounced by
AIADMK leader Jayalalitha as a “great betrayal of the people.” Time alone will
tell.
* * * * *
Bird Flu In Tripura
Even as West Bengal
continues to grapple with the after affects of bird flu, the avian virus has hit Tripura. Over the past week,
about 3,000 birds have died due to the H5N1 avian virus in the State’s Dhalai
district. The State government has got into action and plans to cull around
20,000 birds, within a five-km radius of the affected area over the next three
days. This fresh virus outbreak makes Tripura the fifth State to be infected
since 2006, the first being Maharashtra, followed by Gujarat, Manipur and West Bengal. Tripura has Bangladesh on one side and was
vulnerable to becoming a victim. It is suspected that the bird flu could have
been transmitted through smuggling of poultry birds from neighbouring Bangladesh,
because of the pourous border. Given the fact that West Bengal
is till date finding it difficult to free itself from the virus, Tripura can
ill afford to be lax. More importantly, the Centre needs to ensure that all
precautions are taken so that the other north-eastern States don’t get
infected.
* * * * *
Mizoram Faces
Deadly Mautam!
The Mizos have reason to panic. After a gap of 50 years, the
bamboos in the State are beginning to flower once again heralding what is
traditionally called “Mautam” --- killer famine. Field rats love gorging on
bamboo fruit and thereafter multiply in large numbers. Once all the bamboo
fruit has been consumed, they attack paddy and other crops. Incredibly,
standing Jhum paddy cultivations vanish overnight. (A single rat, it is said,
can produce a litter of ten babies at a time. In a year, two rats and their
offsprings can produce 14000 rats!) When bamboo flowered last time in 1958-59,
Mizo Hills, then a district of Assam, not only faced a famine but also saw the
birth of the Mizo National Famine Front which later became the Mizo National
Front and spearheaded the creation of a separate state of Mizoram. Zoramthanga,
who heads the State’s present MNF Government, knows the havoc Mautam can
create, having experienced it also in 1910-11. He has, accordingly, alerted
both his administration and the Centre.
Mizoram is already confronting a famine following failure of
harvest for the last two years. Many people are facing starvation and the
entire State has been declared disaster-affected. According to the Agriculture
Department, as on February, 11 ‘Mautam’ had affected 1,30,621 families in 769
villages. Rodents and insects had damaged 16,132 hectares of wet rice
cultivation and 1,25,345 hectares of ‘jhum’ paddy cultivation. Against the
expected yield of 12,93,476 quintals of ‘jhum’ paddy, the harvest was only
2,66,469 quintals. Wet rice paddy yield was expected to be 3,22,570 quintals.
But the actual yield was only 67,084
quintals. The department has estimated losses at Rs.411.38 crore. While paddy
has been hit to the extent of 89.76 per cent, the loss in other crops, such as
maize and vegetables is about 60 per cent. The Centre’s Food Corporation of India has been
strongly urged to ensure that at least 15,000 tonnes of rice reaches the State
well ahead of Monsoon. Otherwise, the situation is certain to become very
critical. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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