Mumbai, June 15 (IANS) The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Monday said that amid a blistering heatwave, Maharashtra now faces a looming threat of severe drought as the monsoon continues to elude the state.

An editorial in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Saamana’, said the situation has been aggravated by rising temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Furthermore, critical factors required for rainfall across the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean remain neutral, threatening to intensify the impact of El Niño. Experts warn that this natural crisis — potentially the strongest El Nino effect witnessed in 150 years –signals an era of deficient rainfall and severe drought. Farmers, citizens, and the government must gear up immediately to combat the impending crisis.

The Thackeray camp in the editorial stated that even as the first half of the Mriga constellation draws to a close, there is no sign of monsoon showers across Maharashtra. The traditional June 7 arrival date was missed. Now, as June 15 sets in, the lack of rain coupled with scorching heatwaves has triggered early signs of a severe drought.

The editorial said that while the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had earlier issued a warning regarding the activation of the hazardous El Nino weather pattern, scientific forecasts and historical precedents often falter against nature’s unpredictability. Unfortunately, this time, the grim predictions are materialising with pinpoint accuracy.

“In the first week of June, hope flickered when the monsoon hit the Andaman Islands on schedule and progressed normally from Kerala to Karnataka. It was widely anticipated that the El Nino threat would subside, allowing the monsoon to arrive timely in Mumbai and Western Maharashtra, eventually sweeping across Marathwada and Vidarbha with heavy Mriga showers. However, the weather pattern shifted dramatically after June 6. The advancement slowed down abruptly, leaving the monsoon stalled at the Maharashtra-Goa border,” said the editorial. It further added that the WMO’s forecast of prolonged delays and deficient seasonal rainfall is turning into a harsh reality.

The editorial stated that this year, due to the absolute absence of monsoon showers, sowing activities have ground to a complete halt across Maharashtra. The region is coming off one of its hottest summers recorded in 40 to 50 years. This intense heatwave has scorched agricultural lands, dried up wells, emptied countless lakes, and depleted the state’s collective dam water reserves to a critical 25 per cent, it added.

Explaining the gravity of the situation, the editorial said that the water levels across Maharashtra’s 3,028 small and large dams have plummeted to dangerous lows. The seven major reservoirs supplying water to Mumbai are left with a meagre 12.48 per cent of their total capacity. “With water levels hitting rock bottom, the Water Resources Department of the Government of Maharashtra has suspended water supply for agricultural irrigation. The remaining reserves have been strictly reserved for drinking purposes only,” noted the editorial.

The Thackeray camp said the government in its advisory has urged farmers not to rush into sowing operations based on isolated, sporadic rainfall. Wait until the soil retains sufficient and consistent moisture.

While seasoned farmers understand the risks and traditionally refrain from sowing until the ground experiences two to four heavy spells of rain to avoid the financial disaster of double-sowing, the complete absence of early monsoon rains has paralysed rural areas. “Forget active sowing; even the standard pre-monsoon agricultural preparations are completely missing from the rural landscape,” remarked the Thackeray camp in the editorial.

–IANS

sj/dpb