Drought mitigation projects to save cultivation
By Ranil WIJAYAPALA
As the Meteorological Department is forecasting no major rainy
weather condition in many parts of the country until the end of
September or the beginning of October, Government officials expedited
drought mitigation projects to save cultivation from being destroyed and
to provide relief to the drought-hit farmer community in the country.
According to government estimates coming from various sources,
338,192 farmer families have been affected from the current drought
situation prevailing in more than 13 districts across the country. The
affected paddy cultivating districts are Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa in
the North Central Province, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Matale.
The situation has aggravated in many districts as many irrigation
tanks and drinking water wells have dried up, compelling these people to
go a long distance in search of water.
Many other districts such as Ampara, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Kegalle,
Jaffna, Killinochchi, Batticaloa, Mannar and Moneragala have also been
affected by dry weather conditions mostly due to the shortage of
drinking water. By the end of last week the paddy cultivation in the
Hambantota district especially in the Mahaweli zone also started to get
affected due to dry weather conditions.
According to Duty Weather Forecaster at the Meteorological Department
A Jaysinghaarachchi, though this season is normally a dry weather season
for the North, and North Central provinces, this time the farmers in
these provinces severely feel the dry weather as the areas in the
Central Province which feed the irrigation system in the North Central
province have also not got enough rainfall during this period.
He said during the south western monsoon, only the Western,
Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces and Galle and Matara districts
receive higher rainfall.
"But this time we did not get that rainfall as dry conditions
prevailed above 50,000 feet in the atmosphere without providing
favourable conditions to form clouds which is a prerequisite for rainy
weather. So those provinces also did not experience rainfall as
expected, creating a bad situation for the people especially the farmers
in the North Central province and the North Western province which
basically depend on rainfall in the hydro catchment areas," he added.
"Except for intermittent rains we cannot expect heavy rains until the
country experience the second inter monsoon period in the months of
October and November", he added.
As the weather situation remains unchanged, the Government took
action under the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who appointed
a Committee for Immediate Drought Relief to the drought-affected people.
Many institutions concerning irrigation, agriculture and disaster
mitigation have begun to gather information about drought-affected
people.
According to Agrarian Development Wild Life Conservation Minister
S.M. Chandrasena, the Government has already started a program to save
cultivations of farmers without allowing them to be further destroyed by
the drought by restoring prevailing agricultural wells and creating
6,000 agricultural wells.
"Through this program, we could save nearly 25 percent of the maize,
soya bean and kawpi crops in the North Central province", the Minister
added.
He said the Government has taken drastic measures to ensure that no
food shortage is created in the country due to the prevailing drought by
taking a decision not to export rice until mid next year.
Minister Chandrasena said paddy cultivation is the most affected due
to this situation but there is no fear about a shortage of rice as the
Government has buffer stocks till the Sinhala Hindu New Year festival
next year as 20 percent of the previous Maha season is stocked in paddy
stores.
He said the Maha paddy harvest can also be expected in by February
and March next year and therefore there won't be any problem with regard
to the supply of rice.
The Government has also taken the prevailing dry weather condition as
an advantage to reconstruct and restore the damaged and dilapidated
irrigation systems in the country. "Under the instructions of President
Mahinda Rajapaksa we are dredging many of the tanks which have been
filled with silt for decades, reducing the retention capacity of these
irrigation tanks.
The Government has allocated Rs.3,665 million for this purpose",
Minister Chandrasena added.
"As most of the waterways have dried up due to severe drought, this
is the best time to dredge and renovate tanks," the minister said. He
said the necessary machinery has been sent to Polonnaruwa and
Anuradhapura for this purpose.
Accordingly the program of restoring these irrigation tanks was
inaugurated on Friday from Kalawewa in the Anuradhapura district with
the participation of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, and
several other Ministers.
Minister Chandrasena said that there are hundreds of irrigation
canals and tanks that have become silted and gone beyond use due to
prolonged neglect and lack of action by the authorities in the
Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa districts and they will be restored under
this program.
"There are about 136 minor tanks that need immediate repair. We are
expecting to repair them within the next two months with the
participation of the Farmer Organisations in the respective areas, as
instructed by the President", he added.
Minister Chandrasena said that the Government is providing relief of
Rs. 6,000 to drought affected farmer families under this program. "We
started the program on Friday from Galakiriyagama in Palagama Divisional
Secretariat area in the Anuradhapura district", the Minister added.
However the Minister said the exact number of people affected from
the drought situation cannot be calculated at present as the drought
condition is expected to continue.
Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that his
Ministry has taken steps to provide drinking water for the drought
affected districts.
"We are also in the process of collecting information about the
drought affected people in order to provide them relief along with other
relevant Ministries and Agencies. We are taking measures to provide
relief as many other districts also getting affected from the prevailing
dry weather conditions", he added.
He assured that relief would be provided to farmers who have been
affected by the drought, and also help farmers cultivate for the Maha
season when the Yala season ends.
The Ministry of Agriculture has meanwhile, said the seed paddy and
other seed crops will be provided free of charge to farmers whose crops
were damaged during the Yala season for them to cultivate in the next
harvesting season. The government has allocated 250 million rupees to
provide seeds and the Ministry has already identified the affected
families, the Secretary to the Agriculture Ministry said.
The Minister said that Disaster Management Ministry has taken
initiatives in some districts to have rainwater harvesting projects and
other drought mitigation measures such as issuing of drought prone crops
to farmers.
Meanwhile, Director General of the Mahaweli Authority Gamini
Rajakaruna said that exact details of the destruction caused to the
cultivations can be calculated only after August 15 as the Mahaweli
Authority is still releasing water from its reservoirs to the
cultivations despite the low water levels in the reservoirs.
He said that although Mahaweli Authority earlier decided not to
cultivate 20 percent of the cultivable land areas under the Mahaweli
Authority during the Yala season, the number of lands were increased
later. Therefore out of the 100,000 hectares of cultivable lands, only
nine percent was not cultivated during the Yala season.
"Out of the cultivated lands also nearly 10 percent have been
destroyed due to the dry weather conditions. Therefore, out of the
entire cultivable lands under Mahaweli system around 20 percent have
been affected due to drought situation", he added.
He said the feeder areas from Elahera, Kandalama and Huruluvewa were
the most severely affected due to this drought situation.
"Though the water levels of the Mahaweli reservoirs are not that
good, we continue to supply water for the agricultural lands till August
15. Only after that can we assess the exact damages to the
cultivations", he added. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) also decided
to switch off half of the street lights in the country from August 1, in
a move to save power in the backdrop of the hydro power generation
capacity which has dropped sharply due to lack of rains in the upper
catchment areas. Minister Champika Ranawaka has instructed the local
government authorities to switch off some street lamps in their
respective areas from August 1, noting that the cost of generating
enough electricity to operate street lamps has increased due to the
drought conditions.
Therefore, all the relevant authorities are now in the process of
taking drought mitigation steps.
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