Nagpur/Parbhani: Even as the rains have remained a far fetched event for almost a month in Maharashtra, the dry spell has left the farmers in distress, as they rested hopes on the predictions by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Agitated and frustrated over the incorrect weather predictions in the state, the farmer groups in have lodged a complaint with the Parbhani rural police seeking action against the officials under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Gold Rate
06 May 2025
Back in Nagpur region too, the farmers are reportedly finding the Met department on the wrong end as the latter came up with false prediction about rains.
Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana’s President Manikrao Kadam accused the IMD of duping the farmer community by predicting rainfall during the monsoon season while several parts have been reeling under a dry spell.
The monsoons have taken a break since the third week of July. Corroborating over the same, state agricultural commissioner said that the cumulative rainfall in the state till the second week of August stood at 607.4 mm which is at least 20 per cent short of the 723.7 mm of rainfall normally reported in the state during the above time period.
Meanwhile, Kadam said, “Since the beginning, the weather office has been predicting a normal monsoon for the current year. Based on their prediction, the farmers have invested their capital in seeds and carried out sowing activities. However, rains are absent during the crucial growth phase and the only thing the farmer can now do is to watch his hard-earned investment going waste.”
More than 13.14 lakh hectares of land has been sown this year. Sowing of the majority of the pulses and oilseeds barring soybean has reportedly seen a major dip in the state as farmers have put on hold their on hold their sowing activities. Of the 355 talukas in the state, only 92 have reported above normal rains.
As the farmer community continues to be enraged about this development, the IMD has indicated that rains will make a return in the days to come. Change in weather conditions was reported by the IMD after farmers complained about crop loss due to the dry spell.
