Click to play videoNew Delhi: Centre has started drawing up its contingency plans after admitting on Wednesday that monsoon would be below normal this year and that the country was staring at a possible drought.
There is likely to be 15 per cent deficit in the food-producing belt across North India.
Two high-level meetings will be taking place on Thursday to asses the situation and possible solutions.
A meeting of agriculture secretaries of rainfall-deficient states will take place in New Delhi whereas in Chandigarh, the Bhakra Nangal Dam authorities will be discussing the impact of the depleting water level with officials of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
With monsoon getting alarmingly delayed, the water level in the Bhakra Nangal Dam is falling sharply and now there is the looming fear of a drought-like situation.
The Bhakra Beas Management Board has convened an emergency meeting of the three recipient states - Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana - to give them the bad news that it won't release the usual allotment of 35,000 cusecs of water this year.
It means less irrigation and therefore a smaller kharif harvest in the wheat bowl of the country.
The scenario has left United Progressive Alliance Government is seriously worried.
"India is dependant on monsoon and let us face it. That is the reality. The concentration of rain is in a very short time is a problem. We get a lot of rainfall in a very short time and we do not have enough storage capacity," Minister of State for Earth Sciences Prithviraj Chavan said,
Already, Delhi has experienced the hottest day in five years with the temperature hovering above the 43 degrees Celsius mark.
Power shortage, too, is likely to worsen with the hydel production expected to fall dramatically.
The Prime Minister's Office is closely monitoring the situation but except for drawing up a contingency plan, the government can do little.
"The Prime Minister is personally monitoring the situation. The Cabinet Secretary is meeting all the secretaries," said Chavan.
Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal is prioritising available power and government offices have been sternly told to switch off air-conditioners till June 30 which would enable farmers to run their pumps with the additional power available.
In Delhi, a high-power meeting of agriculture secretaries of the affected states has been convened. The government hasn't gone into a panic mode but already there is a flurry of activities to combat the possible drought.
"The plan as to what is to be done if there is excess monsoon or a deficient monsoon is in place in every department of the government," said Chavan.
For the UPA these are trying times. It didn't expect scant rainfall to add to its recessionary woes.
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