Drought Hits West Bengal, India

WONG:
And more news from West Bengal. Farmers are facing a difficult time in the eastern part of the state due to drought conditions. Heres a look at their situation.

STORY:
The eastern Siliguri district of West Bengal faces a severe crop loss due to lack of rainfall.

The farmers here fear that the dry spell is going to make it extremely difficult to make ends meet.

[Paresh Chandra, Farmer]:
"You can see wheat crops. There is no produce this year. We spent so much money on sowing the crops. We don't know what we can do now."

Weather experts say disturbances created in and around the Arabian Sea are responsible for causing rainfall in the eastern region last year. But this year the air has turned to the Trans Himalayan region giving rain to the western region.

[Subir Sarkar, Meteorologist]:
The basic reason behind this unfortunate incident is the northerly shifting of jet streams. This winter jet stream moved further north. That is basically one reason why this western disturbance also moved further northward."

Experts expect a rapid decrease in ground water levels over the region if the situation continues.

Category:

News & Politics

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• Drought
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• India
• Farmers
• Siliguri
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• Trans Himalayan