40% rain-deficient, Bihar stares at drought; Nitish Kumar to take call soon

The Bihar chief minister is expected to chair a meeting of a crisis management cell around the end of this month when he might also declare Bihar as 'drought-hit'.

The rainfall situation in a fourth of India, including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, is in stark contrast to the rest of the country. Overall, the southwest monsoon in 2018 was only two per cent below normal, as of Thursday. 

With the southwest monsoon in Bihar almost 40 per cent below normal till now, the state is set to be formally declared ‘drought-hit’. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to chair a meeting of a crisis management cell around the end of this month. The declaration might follow, the state’s agriculture minister informed the Vidhana Sabha on Wednesday.  

According to agency