Dehradun, August 25
After sowing kharif crops early, Dhan Singh turned his gaze heaven-wards, hoping to see clouds afloat in the sky. But his wait for the rains has been in vain.

Thousands like Dhan Singh in Uttarakhand have been hit by a poor monsoon. There has been a 67 per cent rainfall deficit in the state between June 1 and July 8 with a calamitous effect on agriculture.

Even if rainfall is normal in the remaining days of the monsoon, it may not be of much help to the farmers.

With no aid coming from the central government nor any contingency plan announced by the state government, the farmers’ cup of woes is full.

The vagrant spell of the monsoon may increase the cost of production, forcing the farmers to spend on alternative supply of water.

Long dry spells and unequal distribution of rain have made matters worse in the hills where agriculture is mostly rain-fed.

Only the districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun are with adequate irrigation facilities.

“Between June 1 to August 19, usually Uttarakhand receives a normal of 879 mm of rainfall, but this year during this period the state received only 597 mm of rainfall, 32 per cent less than normal.

“Tehri, Rudraprayag, Almora, Pauri, Chamoli and Udham Singh Nagar districts recorded a deficit of 75per cent, 74 per cent, 52 per cent, 50 per cent, 43 per cent, and 64 per cent of rainfall,” said Dr Anand Sharma, assistant director, IMD.

He said though the districts of Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pitthoragarh received normal rainfall, some pockets in Uttarakashi, especially the rain shadow area, received comparatively less rainfall.

Farmers in the hills had resorted to early sowing of the kharif crop. As a result, their crops wilted away due to the long dry spell that went up to three weeks.

Uttarakhand received good rain in May, encouraging farmers to take up early sowing but then onwards the monsoon went erratic.

“Some districts received rains at regular intervals though below normal but due to availability of irrigation facilities, the deficiency could be met.

“But in the hill districts, the rain deficit in the month of June badly affected the crops. Small marginal farmers who began sowing early are now in a fix as a 67 per cent rainfall deficit will mean a poor yield,” said Dr Anand Sharma.

The major crops grown during the kharif season are rice, maize, millets, pulses and sugarcane in the plains of Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Dehradun. Rice requires plenty of water.

“Conservative estimates say the loss in the agricultural output is expected to be 30 per cent to 32 per cent.

Most of the hill area is bound to be affected as the sowing is started but the losses in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar will be 5 per cent to 10 per cent,” said agriculture secretary Dr Ranbir Singh.

To see them through their losses the farmers have been asked to grow vegetables, especially peas.

“Only those farmers with crop insurance can hope to get some payment. At times their loans are waived and at other seeds and fertilisers provided to them at subsidised rates,” said Dr Ranbir Singh.

However, there is no comprehensive plan to offset the losses of the farmers. Officials say to be eligible for central government drought relief, certain criteria has to be met (states with 50 per cent area facing drought-like conditions are eligible).

“The overall Kharif output in the hills is between 15 per cent to 20 per cent, while in the plains it is around 30 per cent.

Though the area under agriculture is more in the hills, most farmers there have small land holdings.

“Some districts like Nainital, Almora, Champawat, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Dehradun are engaged in horticulture activities,” said additional director, agriculture, C S Mehra.

He said hardy crops like sugarcane and millets may recover but the cost is bound to go up to tide over the water scarcity.

Already under pressure after the failed rabi crop due to scanty winter rains, the lot of the small farmer is not expected to be ameliorated soon.

When the rabi crop had failed, the state government had demanded a package of Rs 250 crore from the Centre, Rs 40 crore for agriculture. In the present situation, a similar largesse is unlikely.

Kinds of Droughts:
(i) Meteorological drought: This happens when the actual rainfall in an area is significantly less than the climatological mean of that area. The country as a whole may have a normal monsoon, but different meteorological districts and sub-divisions can have below normal rainfall. The rainfall categories for smaller areas are defined by their deviation from a meteorological area's normal rainfall.
(ii)Hydrological drought: A marked depletion of surface water causing very low stream flow and drying of lakes, rivers and reservoirs.
(iii) Agricultural drought: Inadequate soil moisture resulting in acute crop stress and fall in agricultural productivity.
Earlier years of all-India drought 1987, 1979, 1972.

Dehradun, August 25
Eminent city painter Hridaya Narayan Mishra (64) passed away last night after a prolonged illness.

A master of his craft, Dr Mishra gave a new dimension to religious iconography. A relentless toiler, he could paint for hours without a thought of rest.

Even in his last days, colours were his constant companions. A product of the JJ School of Arts, he did his doctorate from Benares Hindu University.

He was a teacher at DAV College. A skilled craftsman who perfected the grammar of art early in life, Mishra’s mediums were acrylic and water colour.

“He was flawless in mixing of colours; a thin layer stroke deceptive at first could take up an all-together different hue, becoming a central theme. It was the highlighting of a theme through the use of thick colours that lent distinctiveness to his series of paintings on Ganesha,” explained Ranjan Chakravati, artist from Doon.

Of particular importance are the series of paintings on Benares ghats- a group of murals illustrative in style, each distinctive in its own right only to be united by similarity of colour and line.

Figuring in Lalit Kala Gazette of painters, Dr Mishra shunned publicity. His works are displayed at the UP State Lalit Kala Kendra, Lucknow, Delhi College of Art, Air India office and at offices and homes of private collectors in the USA, France and Nepal.

He held several art exhibitions in Germany. Of special mention is one held in Herite, a German town in 1982.

A multi-faceted personality, Mishra made three documentaries for the University Grants Commission, including a film on the wall paintings of Darbar Sahib.

There was nothing that Mishra did not explore; artistically designed waterfalls and fountains at several homes and public places stand testimony to formidable talent.

Roorkee, August 25
Adarsh Bal Niketan School, located in the campus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-R), is all set to be the first e-learning school in the state.

All the required equipment have been installed to set up at least three e-classrooms in this 53-years-old school, which was inaugurated by the first Prime Minister of the country, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru on November 25, 1956.

With the starting of e-classrooms at the school, it would become a part of distant learning system and the students here would be able to attend e-lectures, being transmitted via Edu Sat satellite.

The e-classrooms would provide opportunity to the students to have access to the experts from across the world.

As they can also have interaction with the experts through Satellite Interactive Terminal (SIT) mode to discuss the subjects, the system would help them to understand and learn things fast and in a better way.

In fact, the IIT-R has been providing the expertise as well as funding for the required equipments and software under the project of VSAT enable Mobile e-Learning Terminal (MeLT) by Ministry of Human Resourses Development to equip the school with latest advance technology.

The project aims to connect the students of the remote areas of country through e-learning facilities. Dr HK Verma, deputy director, IIT-R, and project leader of MeLT, said that objective of starting e-classrooms is to demonstrate the capabilities of e-learning to society and creating interest for e-lessons among the students.

“Apart from that, this would also be used as the live trials on the techniques and concepts, being developed for the MeLT project,” said Dr Verma.

Under the e-learning facilities in the school, at least three e-classrooms would be set for the students from Class IX to XII.

“In the first classroom, there will be VSAT connectivity (VSAT is a very small aperture terminal) for which VSAT equipment has already been installed there. Apart from having access to vast educational material on the Internet, the students would get opportunity of live interaction with the various experts of different fields and subjects via SIT mode. This classroom will also be run on ROT (Receive only Terminal) mode,” said Dr Verma, adding that VSAT equipment has already installed in the school. In the second e-class, it is proposed to install a 42” television, being connected to DTH antenna.

Here, the students would be able to see the e-lessons and other educational transmissions from DD programmes while the third e-classroom, having the facility of broadband connectivity with Internet, would be created in the computer laboratory.

“A local area network will be created here so that the students will have access to the vast educational material, available on Internet,” said Dr Verma.

Elated over the development, the school manager Dr Parveen Kumar appreciated the step of the IIT-R.

“With starting of e-classrooms here, the school is bound to grow manifold. We
feel proud that we are going to be the first e-learning school in the state,” said
Dr Parveen Kumar.

“The entire e-learning system and the access to Internet would be provided under the guidance of school teachers so that the students do not deviate to other trash material on the Internet,” said Dr Parveen.

The cost on the project of making the school e-learning would be around Rs 7 lakhs. The e-classes would start by next month, said Dr Parveen.