Rains bring relief to Uttarakhand farmers

Breaking a long dry spell of nearly two months, rains lashed several parts of Uttarakhand, bringing cheers on faces of farmers.

Agriculture experts said the rains would improve the production of crops like wheat and potato, which will be sowed in the next few days. Uttarakhand meteorological department is also issuing an agri-advisory in this regard.

"The rains may continue for next few days as a new system is building up in the region," a Meteorological department official said.

The Uttarakhand government had begun assessing the drought-like situation prevailing in the state following a prolonged dry-spell. The last rainfall in the state was on December 10.

The dry spell has threatened to affect crops like wheat in the wake of abnormal climate change symptoms. But now, things are likely to improve. Another worrying factor in the hills was that the temperature in hilly areas was rising sharply due to which the early flowering was reported in several areas of the state.

Meanwhile, the water flow of the Ganga has also shown improvement after it receded continuously for the past two months at Haridwar, Rishikesh and other areas due to the long dry winter spell.

This also means that more water can be released for irrigation purposes in the plain areas of Uttar Pradesh, officials said.