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Delayed monsoon makes farmers jittery
Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
Technical and other explanations given by meteorologists notwithstanding, people in general and farmers in particular are both jittery and worried over the failure of the southwest monsoon in the region so far.

The erratic and poor power supply position, both in Punjab and Haryana, has aggravated the problem.

Though the paddy transplantation work is still continuing in the region, failure of rains and uncertain power supply has been forcing farmers to come on streets in protest against failure of the Punjab government to keep its commitment of uninterrupted power supply from June 30 onwards.

Failure of the Monsoon, whose normal time of breaking over the region is the last week of June, has made the farmers dependent upon power or diesel generation to run water pumps. The recent hike in the price of diesel and uncertain power supply may make paddy cultivation unremunerative as the Union Government is unlikely to hike its Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Though meteorological experts maintain that the south west monsoon has arrived in the region but it has got on to a feeble start. The current is weak. They hold that conditions were ideal and the monsoon may lash the region in a big way in the next three to four days.But all such previous predictions have prove wrong.

So far, parts of Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal have had light to moderate rains which were scattered and unlike monsoon rains.The experts maintain that overcast sky, drop in temperature, breeze, moisture in the air and widespread rains are the common features of the southwest monsoon. So far nowhere in the region monsoon like conditions have prevailed, thus making the scenario gloomy and bleak.

The erratic power supply not only makes things difficult for farmers, but even other section of consumers, including industry, trade and even domestic consumers, have been unhappy over unannounced long power cuts thus paralysing normal life, both in cities and rural areas.

As a Tribune team travelled through parts of Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ludhiana, Faridkot and Moga districts today, life was virtually at a standstill. Most of the areas had no power until late afternoon.