Flood and Drought Threaten India’s Mission to Relieve Rural Poverty
South Asias annual monsoon is threatening to derail the agenda of Manmohan Singh, Indias prime minister, to alleviate suffering for hundreds of millions of rural poor, reports the World Bank press review Thursday.
The monsoon that has flooded parts of eastern India and neighboring Bangladesh has so far faltered on its north-west sweep towards Indias key farming states. Eight states, which account for nearly half of Indias 1,01 billion population, are on the verge of drought.
The government is moving to provide emergency relief to farmers whose summer crops lie fallow, but with agriculture driving a fifth of Indias economy, a drought threatens to undermine its efforts to revive the hopes of the rural majority.
By the end of last week, monsoon rains were measured at 12 percent below normal, a blow to the 60 percent of Indias farmland that still depends on rainfall. Meanwhile, more than half the countrys 71 main water reservoirs now hold less than a third of their capacity, prompting fears of water shortages.
The overall economic impact of this years fickle monsoon remains uncertain. Economist Surjit Bhalla believes poor rainfall could depress agricultural growth by 2-3 percent this year. But he says overall economic growth would remain steady at about 6 percent.
Most economists agree that agriculture is declining in importance in Indias economy – replaced by a rise in industrial output and growth in the services sector, which together account for about 80 percent of the economy.
Groundnut and soybean, the seasons main oilseed crops, have been affected by insufficient rain in the key central and western regions and need immediate rainfall to stop further damage.
Traders said the soybean crop has been sown over 6,5 million hectares, same as last year, but yields are likely to fall. Traders asessed that the countrys groundnut crop was likely to be lower at around four million tons compared with 5,3 million tons a year ago, with some damage already done.
The Times of India reports that in view of recurring natural disasters like floods and earthquakes in South-East Asia, experts in the World Health Organization feel that countries like India should make necessary legislations to incorporate disaster management measures.
Pointing to the misery of more than 20 million flood-affected people in the region, WHOs regional adviser for South East Asia Luis Jorge Perez said: – Since such disasters followed by outbreak of diseases take place almost on a regular basis, the government needs to put disaster management measures in place so as to minimize losses.
Perez added that the extent of destruction caused during such calamities reflect the lack of preparedness.
On the same topic, The Miami Herald notes that governments and relief agencies across Asia were racing to cope with homelessness and outbreaks of disease Wednesday after heavy rains. Floods have spread across parts of Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal and Vietnam, killing at least 1,600 people and leaving millions homeless.
Bangladesh has been especially hard-hit. In the capital, Dhaka, as much as 40 percent of the city has been submerged by the worst floods since the devastating floods of 1998. Bangladeshs government said more than 450 people killed since June. Millions of others are homeless.
In China, the authorities are wrestling with both floods and drought, a combination of natural calamities. While parts of northern and eastern China bake in high temperatures, the southwestern and central provinces have been inundated with waters that have destroyed at least 275.000 homes and more than 12 million acres of farmland.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said Thursday it will seek international aid to help rehabilitate Bangladesh. The formal appeal will go out within weeks after an assessment of the damage and needs, said the statement, issued a day after Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said Bangladesh can not cope alone with the devastation.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
