Farmers group in Maharashtra have accused the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) of allegedly duping them and are demanding action against it. Manikrao Kadam, Marathwada president of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana has lodged a complaint with the Parbhani rural police, asking for action against IMD officials under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
Since the third week of July, the monsoons have taken a break with large parts of the state experiencing a dry spell. Reports of the state agriculture commissioner say the cumulative rainfall in the state till the second week of August stood at 607.4 mm.
This is around 20 per cent short of the 723.7 mm of rainfall normally reported in the state during the above time period.
The state has reported sowing over 13.14 lakh hectares of land which is more or less the same as reported last year. Of the 355 talukas in the state only 92 have reported above normal rains while majority of the other talukas have reported rainfall between 50-100 per cent of their normal rainfall. Sowing of majority of the pulses and oilseeds barring soybean has however reported a major dip in the state with farmers putting on hold their sowing activities in view of the dry spell. While the IMD has indicated a revival of the rains in the days to come, most farmers have complained about crop loss due to the dry spell.
Kadam said, “Since the beginning, the weather office has been predicting a normal monsoon for the current year. Based on their prediction, the farmers have invested their capital in seeds and carried out sowing activities. However, rains are absent during the crucial growth phase and the only thing the farmer can now do is to watch his hard earned investment going waste,” he said.
