Deficient rains may lead to serious situation: Sharad Pawar

Thane: Voicing concern over deficient monsoon rains, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the country may face a "serious" situation if it does not rain in the next two months.

"Everything depends on the return of rains in August and September. But if it doesn't, the situation would become serious," he said.

Pawar was speaking at the inauguration of a skywalk at Bonkode in Navi Mumbai. Monsoon rains are crucial for the agriculture sector, which contributes about 15 per cent to the country's GDP, as only 40 per cent of the total cultivable area is under irrigation.

Since the onset of monsoon, the country has received 22 per cent less rainfall than predicted.

Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and West Rajasthan have been the worst-hit regions this year with monsoon deficiency ranging upto 75 per cent in Saurashtra and Kutch, accordign to the weather office data.

Since the onset of monsoon, the country has received 22 per cent less rainfall than predicted with northwest region being the most affected with a deficiency of 42 per cent.

In Central India, rains have been 23 per cent deficient, while the southern peninsula has received 22 per cent less rains than average.

The 84 major reservoirs in the country that are being monitored by the Central Water Commission have now begun to get filled but the current year storage is still 61 per cent of last year's storage.

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