Eyebrows raised as Central team visits Anantapur to assess rabi drought during rainy kharif

Central Drought Team visits Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts during unexpected rainfall, leaving farmers and officials puzzled.

The farmers of the Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts are baffled by the Central Drought Team’s visit scheduled during the ongoing kharif to assess the impact of the drought of rabi of 2023-24.

The farmers of the two perennially drought-struck districts are worried about how to present their drought woes to the officials, who are scheduled to be here on a two-day visit when the districts have unusually recorded excess rainfall from the last week of May to June this year and their fields are rain-fed and green.

The team’s itinerary included a whirlwind visit to the select mandals in the two districts on June 19 and 20 (Wednesday and Thursday).

The rabi season typically is between October and May when the district experiences extremely deficit rainfall.

Despite the prevalence of adverse conditions for agriculture, the State government has named only 14 mandals in the Anantapur district and one mandal in the Sri Sathya Sai district as ‘drought-affected’.

The Anantapur district experienced a deficit rainfall of only 67.1% during the crucial rabi months of October, November, and December, with only 45.8 mm of rainfall as against the average of 139.3 mm.

Additionally, January and February also saw no rainfall, leading to extensive damage to the rabi crops due to the prolonged drought and scarcity of drinking water.