Concerned over deficient rainfall during southwest monsoon season, the government has decided to declare Kerala drought-hit. Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan told Express that it was a precautionary measure in view of the deficit in rainfall and the fact that the state has to negotiate the harsh summer months soon. “The government has decided to declare all the districts as drought-hit in a bid to alert the public.
The state has eceived only a fraction of the expected rainfall during the monsoon season. The Centre will be apprised of the development,” the said. The southwest monsoon recorded 34 per cent deficit in rainfall this year, and the north-east monsoon is expected to be delayed. “We need to warn the people of a possible drinking water crisis. The state will face potable water shortage during the months of March and April,” Chandrasekharan said. For the moment, the government is considering options to tide over the crisis. If the northeast monsoon proves to be weak, the coming summer could prove tricky for the state’s power sector. As on Thursday, storage levels in the hydel reservoirs stood at 2,156 million units, which is lowest in the last four years.