Scorching heat in Chhattisgarh has left bore-wells in the rural areas dry, plunging the state to face severe scarcity of vegetables even as the price has gone beyond the reach of common man.
While the mercury level recorded a constant increase in last fortnight, about 60 per cent borewells in the agriculture field in the vegetable producing pockets of the state had dried up. The maximum temperature in the state capital has crossed 43 degree centigrade. Not only the production of vegetables was severely affected, but also crops were damaged in many areas.
According to traders, about 70 per cent of vegetables in the urban markets of the state come from the rural areas. As the supply had been disrupted, the traders are transporting vegetables from the neighbouring states that had resulted in sharp increase in the price. Harish Bawariya, President of Whole-sale vegetable traders’ Association, said that never in the last 50 years the bore-wells had dried up in the fields in April.
The crises were likely to worsen due to the marriage season and elections, he added. In early April, about two dozen truck load of vegetables were coming to the state capital daily from the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. “It has now confined to just 6-7 trucks as the vehicles are reported to be engaged in the election duties,” Bawariya said.
