The farming community has alleged that, though it is monsoon, the peak time for agriculture, they are yet to begin the agrarian works as there is no water in their fields.
Hundreds of farmers in Dengsarangi and Gandamunda areas of the district have claimed that peasants residing in the low-lying areas are deprived of water for farming as adequate water has not been released from the Hirakud Dam.
On top of that, they said, inadequate rainfall during the ongoing monsoon is piling troubles on their woes.
“The Hirakud Dam authorities released less amount of water last month despite getting a good inflow due to rain on the upstream. However, we are not getting enough water for ploughing the fields as the linking canal which has a capacity to contain 119 cusecs of water is only having around 20-30 cusecs of water,” alleged the president of a local farmers’ body.
The farmers have threatened to intensify their protests by blocking water supply to Hindalco Industries if their issues are not resolved soon.
“We tried to apprise the district Irrigation authorities on our problems, however we could not put forward our issues. If they don’t release water to improve agricultural conditions in the area soon, we will gherao the Irrigation Department office and block water supply to Hindalco,” he threatened.
The farmers of Nuapada district had begun the agricultural work after the region received some amount of rainfall in the month of June. But soon after the onset of monsoon, rain is now playing hide and seek. So far there has been 50 percent less rainfall than normal, which has left the farmers in lurch.
“We anticipate that there will be drought as there has been no adequate rainfall since June,” said a farmer from Nuapada.
The situation is likely to worsen if large tracts of non-irrigated lands in several parts of the State do not receive rainfall in coming days.
Water scarcity has also reared its ugly head in Sambalpur as paddy crops in hectares of non-irrigated land are starting to get affected. Deputy agriculture director of Sambalpur, Khagendra Jena has also admitted a drought-like situation in the region.
“So far the situation is bearable, but if the region doesn’t receive rainfall in the next one week, it will worsen,” said Jena.
Agricultural works in several coastal districts have also been adversely affected due to lack of rainfall. However, the latest forecast by the Regional Meteorological Centre has come as a ray of hope.
As per the forecast, the cyclonic circulation over northwest Bay of Bengal is likely to develop into a low pressure area in the next 48 hours. Under its impact, several parts of Odisha will experience heavy rainfall.
“The cyclonic circulation is likely to intensify into a low pressure system and it is likely to trigger rainfall,” said duty officer, Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, Charan Behera.