The rainfall patterns have been changed in Manipur. The region which started to receive deficient rain during monsoon begins to get more rain during pre-monsoon and post monsoon and it greatly affects the agricultural practices.
Disclosing this deputy director T Brajakumar of directorate of environment said we’ve been observing this in the State’s available rainfall data.
There is a deficit of 18 per cent rainfall in June-July months.
Brajakumar was delivering a presentation at a brainstorming interaction on ‘Spring rejuvenation and underground water recharge in Manipur’ under the aegis of directorate of environment on Saturday evening.
Stating that the State is losing around 66 per cent rainfall as of now, he said Ukhrul district gets less rainfall this time and subsequently affects its usual agricultural practices.
Expressing the need to address the issues of water resources, agriculture, forest and health based on the vulnerability assessment, he informed that 1384 villages out of 2111 villages in Manipur’s five hill districts depend on spring water for sustenance.
But these springs are becoming ‘uncertain’ after the perennial spring becomes seasonal spring due to deforestation, increasing water demand, changing rainfall and changing land use pattern etc.
As a result people started to search for water sources.
Even if they found it, they take time to fetch it.
Some villages even migrate in search of water.
Interestingly 60 per cent of the Indian Himalayan region residents (50 million) depend on springs, according to Advance Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (ACWADAM), a not for profit organization which had been working on springs of Himalayan region.
Besides 50 per cent of the springs in the Indian Himalayan region have dried up and 60 per cent of them are discharging low.
Considering the seriousness of the issue, most of the experienced officials and engineers who attended the interaction have expressed the need to implement the Information education and communication (IEC) properly apart from taking other technical intiatives.
Echoing the similar feeling, Additional chief engineer L Swamikanta of the public health engineering department who has travelled the length and breadth of Manipur also admitted, ‘We need IEC in villages.’
Divisional Forest Officer RK Amarjit of state forest department and Director Th Harikumar of Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development Manipur also highlighted a number of initiatives taken by their respective department in this regard.Director Y Nabachandra of Directorate of Environment also present during the interaction.