Ranchi, April 10: Weathermen are knitting their brows as maximum temperatures continue to breach the 40°C mark across a parched Jharkhand while tribal priests have already prophesied below normal rainfall this year, raising the spectre of drought that is a nationwide killer.
Scientists at Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) in Kanke, Ranchi, didn't mince words to say that the dramatic rise in daytime readings didn't augur well for the state.
"While the Celsius surge isn't unnatural, the same is followed by increased evaporation and rainfall, which again bring down temperatures. This is the balancing mechanism of nature. However, despite high evaporation this year, rain continues to elude Jharkhand. Forty-plus temperatures in Ranchi in April is unthinkable," said A. Wadood, the chairman of agricultural physics at BAU.
According to Wadood, it is too early to predict if Jharkhand will experience drought in 2016, but the steady rise in temperatures can only be attributed to high pollution levels, depletion of forest cover, neglect of water bodies, rampant urbanisation and reckless exploitation of underground water reserves.
"Rain in Jharkhand rarely comes from the Bay of Bengal. Evaporation from water bodies causes formation of local clouds. Unfortunately, that system isn't working so far," the BAU expert said.
Wadood pointed out that hundreds of trees had been felled in Ranchi for road widening works, but were not adequately compensated; smoke-belching vehicles rule city roads while no one has heard of car pooling; even much-touted water harvesting projects have failed to kick off while many ponds and lakes have disappeared under high-rises.
"We are responsible for this mess. The number of vehicles need to be restricted immediately; all water bodies should be protected; and rainwater harvesting should be made compulsory with increased afforestation efforts. Only then can Jharkhand be saved from droughts and drought like situations," Wadood underlined.
D.N. Singh, the associate director of Zonal Research Station of BAU in Chianki, Palamau, 170km from Ranchi, too conceded that more than 70 per cent of rainwater was wasted in the absence of harvesting mechanisms in Jharkhand.
"The government has ordered digging of 100,000 dobas (small ponds) across the state by June. These can hold rainwater and is a major step towards conservation, if implemented in the right earnest," he added.
While both Wadood and Singh agree that it is too early to predict drought, 53-year-old Jaglal Pahan, the head priest at of Kendriya Sarna Sthal in Morabadi, Ranchi, claims that the gods have sent "clear signs" of low rainfall and drought-like conditions this year.
Examining his two prediction pitchers this morning, Jaglal exclaimed, "The water levels have gone down by more than an inch and a half in the past 12 hours. This does not augur well. It means that rainfall will be below normal."
The pahan or priest had placed the pitchers on an elevated platform at Kendriya Sarna Sthal around 7pm yesterday.
He had performed puja and filled up the pitchers to the brim. Around 7am today, he re-examined the pitchers and discovered the dip in water levels.
"There were times in the past when the water in the pitchers rose and overflowed. That would have been a sign of abundant rainfall and bumper harvest. This is our tradition of forecast handed down by our forefathers. God speaks through events," the head priest said.
On the crab sacrifice ritual, Jaglal said, "Crabs were the first animals created by God. At the worship place, I hang a male and a female to offer prayers. I smash them together and mix the paste with paddy seeds, which are later sown so that farmers are blessed with good crop."
State agriculture secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said there was no reason to panic yet. "Let's wait till June-July (when monsoon officially arrives). We will do whatever is needed (to prevent drought-like conditions)."
