National

Rain God Casts A Dry Spell

Assam and Nagaland reel under a never-before drought that's causing some peculiar situations

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Rain God Casts A Dry Spell
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  • In Nagaland's capital Kohima, residents walk or drive up to five km to fetch their daily quota of water;
  • The management of the famous Kamakhya temple atop a hill in Guwahati contemplates a closure of the temple since there's no water to wash the deity;
  • Tea gardens in Assam and Tripura have missed the first flush production for the new season for lack of winter rains;
  • In Manipur major rivers have dried up, forcing unprecedented water supply cuts;
  • So worried are the people in Assam that the long-dead tradition of 'marrying off frogs' to propitiate the rain god has been revived at various places.

    And yet, rains have eluded the region so far. Officers at the meteorological office in Guwahati admit that non-occurrence of rainfall for two months continuously is rare, if not unprecedented-similar conditions had prevailed in 1909 and 1947. But as old citizens recall, the population was not as big in 1947, thereby allowing the people to tide over the crisis, albeit with some hardship. This year the absence of rainfall brought dust storms in January and February, at least two months before they usually invade the Assam skies.

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    Guwahati saw its last rainfall on Diwali last November. Since then, residents have been eagerly awaiting the skies to open up but in vain. Traditionally, Assam receives at least three spells of showers during the winter months. The Magh Bihu festival in mid-January, equivalent to the Sankranti in North India, usually witnesses smart showers. Not this year. The winter rainfall also helps replenish ground water levels, but this season the ground water table has dropped alarmingly. Says a senior engineer in the state's Public Health Engineering Department (phed): 'The ground water table has dipped in most parts of Assam, forcing people to dig deeper for their tube wells.' The unprecedented dry spell has also led to a fall in the water levels of the Brahmaputra river. This has resulted in a shortage of potable water in Guwahati city.

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    Long queues for collecting drinking water have become a common sight here for the past month. Says Girish Sarma, a Grade IV employee in a private firm: 'Every day we have to fetch water from a common municipal tap two km away since our well has dried up.' Municipal authorities plead helplessness in supplying sufficient water since the Brahmaputra has dried up, making it difficult to pump enough water.

    If Guwahati is suffering, the situation is worse in Kohima. With no major river in its immediate vicinity, residents of this capital town are having a harrowing time. Hotels have closed shop for want of adequate water. The Kohima Town Committee has been forced to establish an Emergency Water Supply Board to monitor and ration the water supply to residents.As Abou Kire, chairman of this board, says: 'All the normal water sources in and around Kohima have dried up since there has been no rain for the past five months. Now, we try to collect water from streams located some distance away and distribute it to the people.'


    The water distribution time is battle time for the residents. Long queues and total chaos prevails during the exercise. Says Manchu Mai, warden of a private ladies hostel: 'We women are facing a major problem. Although we stand in line, very often we're overpowered by the unruly men.' Almost everyone has a complaint. Quips pti journalist Atanu Phukan: 'The most important task for everyone in Kohima these days is to procure water. Even senior officials have to run around looking for water.'

    Also worried are tea garden owners in Assam and Tripura. Without the usual quota of winter rains, the first flush (first crop) of tea has suffered. Says H.P. Barooah, a leading tea planter in Assam: 'If there's no rain in the next fortnight, tea bushes may suffer permanent damage. This will in turn affect production.' P.K. Bhattacharjee, additional secretary-general of Indian Tea Association, only confirms the gloom: 'We're all worried over the unusual phenomenon. Many tea gardens are resorting to prayer and performing the 'marriage of frogs' ceremony for the rains to come.'

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    And they aren't the only ones. In Guwahati too, a traditional Assamese Hindu marriage involving two frogs was performed. Such weddings are ritual in rural areas but it was the first time in recent memory that such a feat was performed in Guwahati. 'After this marriage, we hope the rain gods will be appeased enough to relieve us of our anxiety,' says Amol Katoky, one of the organisers.

    The famous Kamakhya temple, a seat of Tantrik studies and one of the holiest of the 52 Shakti shrines in the country, was about to close its doors for devotees for lack of water in its natural ponds but for the army's timely help. Engineers of the 21 Mountain Division cleaned up the pukhuris (ponds) in the temple premises and filled it up with water after a five-day operation. The Soubhagya Phukuri, where devotees wash their hands and feet and offer prayer before entering the sanctum sanctorum, had completely dried up. As a member of the temple management committee says: 'Had the army not come to our rescue, we would have been forced to close down the temple which has never happened.'

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    The absence of rainfall has caused another peculiar problem. Normally the Brahmaputra Valley has a relative humidity of above 90 per cent throughout the year. But for the past two months, it has dropped down to less than 20 per cent, making the weather uncommonly dry. Residents, normally accustomed to a damp climate, are suffering from increasing asthmatic problems. Says Dr Naren Sarma, a homoeopath: 'Since the beginning of this year, I've noticed a rise in patients, especially children, suffering from dry cough and asthma. The dusty climate is mainly responsible for this.'

    This dryness has also given carpenters cause for complaint. New wood, even of good quality, is cracking up due to lack of moisture in the weather. Says J. Bora, a leading furniture maker: 'The peculiar dry weather has created a problem we have never encountered before. Wood is twisting and cracking up because of which we are not able to take too many big orders.'

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    Agriculturists too are worried. The Assam agricultural department has sounded a red alert throughout the state. According to an official estimate, standing summer paddy over an estimated 31,345 hectares of land is in danger of withering away for lack of rains.

    Environmentalists blame rampant deforestation for the present rainless condition but Met Office sources say that relief is in sight in the coming weeks. 'Normally winter rainfall in the Northeast is associated with the western disturbances. At least three such systems pass through the region during winters but this year it has not happened,' says a senior Met official. Admitting that there is a crisis, T.K. Ray, deputy director-general of the Regional Meteorological centre at Guwahati, says: 'There is no cause for panic. The current deficit could be wiped out with one or two good showers.' Viewed through the cold, calculated and clinical ways of meteorologists, the current situation may be a minor crisis in their eyes, but for people in the Northeast, it's a dry run to disaster.

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