And Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) has arrived in the State to asses drought situation. The team visited Kohima, Jalukie and Wokha on Friday.
Led by Central Water Commission (CWC) director Sudhir Kumar and comprising under-secretary food and PD, Ram Chandra; Assistant Director, MNCF/DA, FW, Dr Pradeep Kumar, the team held a meeting with officials of District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) and line departments at deputy commissioner’s (DC) office, Kohima.
During the briefing and interaction with line department officials, the Central team said the purpose of the visit was assessment of drought situation in the State. It requested the Agriculture and PHE departments to develop an action plan prior to the monsoons to avoid recurrence of drought situation and assist farmers in cultivation in case of delayed or no rain, which could affect the cultivated plots and ultimately result in losses for the farmers.
It also requested the departments to ensure sustainable water resource throughout the year not only in Kohima town, but in rural areas as well, while urging the Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Department to be prepared for drought and epidemic situations.
On its part, DDMA highlighted the drought-like situation and drought mitigation measures undertaken during 2021. Measures to mitigate water scarcity in Kohima town undertaken by PHED, Urban Division Kohima was also highlighted. The authority further informed the team that agricultural crops over 1465.4 acre were affected by drought in 2020-2021 in Kohima district and 65 villages, mostly from northern areas, were affected.
Kohima DC and DDMA chairman Gregory Thejawelie also spoke at the meeting, which was attended by officials from the departments of Agriculture, Fisheries, PHE, Rural Development, Animal Husbandry & Veterinary and Land Resource.
After the briefing, IMCT visited the drought-hit Gariphema village along with officials of DDMA and line departments for spot verification of the DDMA initiatives.
The team also interacted with the farmers and encouraged them to upgrade their cultivating system. They were informed that 30-40 household of the village were affected by the drought.
Jalukie: Led by adviser, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Ruchika Gupta along with under-secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Deep Shikhar Singhal, and research officer Dr Md Faisal Abdullah, IMCT also visited Jalukie on Friday and held a brief meeting with district administration officials and heads of various departments to take stock of the drought-like situation in Peren district.
During the meeting, Agriculture, PHE and Fisheries departments through a presentation apprised the visiting officials of the ground realities in the district.
Earlier, a welcome address was proposed by Peren additional deputy commissioner Keyirangding Hegui. The team also carried out field inspections at Mhainamtsi, New Jalukie and Nkwareu villages.
Wokha: The IMCT arrived at Wokha and met officials of DDMA and various State government departments at Hammock Resort to assess the situation in wake of drought during kharif and rabi seasons in 2021. The meeting was chaired by Wokha DC and DDMA chairman Orenthung Lotha.
District agriculture officer highlighted the drought situations in the district through a presentation, while line department officials interacted with the visiting team.
After the presentation by various lines departments, villagers from Ralan held an interaction with IMTCT and narrated the difficulties faced by during the drought period.
The visiting team, DC and officials of DDMA and various line departments then went for a field visit to New Wokha village and held an interaction with the villagers.
The team also visited other affected districts.
