Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alert - South Asia Drought - 2/2000 Geneva, 2 May 2000
With the rapidly worsening drought situation in South Asia, ACT members across the region are gearing up for humanitarian intervention. India: ACT members Churches Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) and Lutheran World Service (LWS) - India, are presently assessing the drought situation which has gripped large parts of central and western India and plan to come up with proposals in the next few days. The two members are in consultation with each other to ensure a co-ordinated ACT response. In the meantime, we would like to share CASA's most recent sitrep on the drought: Over a 100 million people living in 12 States have been seriously affected by the current drought situation. The worst affected states are those of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. In vast tracts of land, the monsoons were deficient and the situation was aggravated by the failure of the normal post-monsoon rains. Water resources have dried up as unsustainable exploitation of groundwater has depleted underground aquifers and lowered the water table to alarming depths. Crops have withered and cattle are dying from lack of fodder. Despite being aware of the deficient monsoon rains, most of the states failed to take pre-emptive measures such as water harvesting, stocking up fodder for cattle and food grains for the needy and timely employment to compensate for crop failure. The result is parched land, high mortality of livestock, severe scarcity of drinking water and now, even starvation. More than fifty million people are badly affected by these near-famine conditions but no deaths have been reported so far. However, as the summer peaks and the heat wave intensifies over the next few weeks, more and more people are expected to reel under water and food grain shortage. Gujarat - The state has been hit by the worst drought in 100 years. More than 25 million people living in 9,000 villages of 17 of the 25 districts have been hit. Though Saurashtra has always been drought prone, this year the districts of Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh, Amroli, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar and Porbandar have also been badly affected. Almost all water sources have dried up; there is no food for the people and no fodder for over 7 million cattle. The water table in drought affected Saurashtra, Kutch and northern Gujarat is said to be falling by 10-15 feet each year and food grain production this year is lower by 30%. Rajasthan - More than 25 million people in 23,406 villages of 26 of the 32 districts of Rajasthan are reeling under famine conditions and facing acute shortage of drinking water, food and fodder for cattle. Food grain production is lower by 23%. Fodder scarcity has hit about 34 million cattle heads and there have been reports of people abandoning their cattle because they cannot maintain them. The worst affected districts are Sirohi, Jalore and Barmer. Madhya Pradesh - Seven of the 45 districts of the state, particularly those adjoining the States of Rajasthan and Gujarat, have also been hit. The worst affected districts are stated to be Jhabua, Dhar, Bhadwani, Khargone and Malwa and some parts of Chhatisgarh region. Conditions in the Malwa-Nimar region are stated to be serious, while the other parts of the state are suffering from a severe water scarcity. The ground water level has gone down and most of the tube-wells have dried up. Large numbers of laborers have migrated to other regions in search of employment and food. Scarcity of water has led to erratic power supply. The total population affected by the current drought in the State is reported to be over 2.6 million. Andhra Pradesh - Forty million people in the state are suffering from the effects of the drought. Conditions in Telengana and Rayalaseema regions, in particular, are reported to be serious. Eighteen of the 23 districts are affected. Most of the villages in Mahbubnagar and Ranga Reddy districts do not have potable water facilities as the wells have dried up. Food grain production is lower by nearly 25%. Orissa - The arid and drought prone belt of northern and western Orissa, bordering the states of Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, are in the grip of severe drought too. Data is awaited. As summer hits Orissa with its full blistering impact, the survivors of the Super cyclone wait for yet another miracle to see them through. Living in ramshackle huts and makeshift shelters of tarpaulin, the people are finding it difficult to survive with the monsoons still far away and predicted as being bleak this year. Due to salination caused by tidal waves, the agricultural land in the region has been rendered infertile. Consequently there was no winter crop this year and the villagers are solely dependent on the government and a handful of NGOs for their food supply. Electricity has still not been restored in many of the affected villages and drinking water is scarce. Afghanistan: ACT member Christian Aid, which works through local partners in Afghanistan, reports of an equally bad situation in Farah and Ghor provinces in western Afghanistan and thus intend to support drought emergency work in the affected areas. Thank you for your attention. For further information please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Thor-Arne Prois (phone ++41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Neville Pradhan (phone ++41 22 791 6035 or mobile phone ++ 41 79 285 2916) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide network of churches and their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ecumenical Centre Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33 150, route de Ferney Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06 1211 Geneva 2 Telex: 415 730 OIK CH Switzerland http://www.act-intl.org distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -