40% Rainfall Deficit In June: Union Minister Amit Shah Orders High Alert For Water And Crops

New Delhi: The Centre has moved to high alert over the possibility of drought in several states after India recorded the driest June in over a century and forecasts point to weak rainfall in July. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday led a meeting with concerned ministries and senior officials to assess the fallout and map out immediate steps to protect farmers and essential services.

Chairing the review alongside Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Amit Shah said that the government was “continuously monitoring” the situation arising from below-normal rain linked to El Nino. According to an official statement released after the meeting, the Union Home Minister advised ministries to work in close coordination with state administrations to limit the impact on agriculture and on the supply of basic necessities.

At a time when the southwest monsoon is already struggling and the IMD is predicting below-average showers for July, the government is now bracing for pressure on sowing, reservoirs and drinking water in vulnerable regions.

Driest June In Over Century

According to data, India received just 99.5 mm of rain in June, nearly 40 percent less than normal, which was the 5th-lowest June rainfall since records began in 1901. Central India bore the brunt, with a shortfall of over 50 percent.

In light of this, Amit Shah recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture and other departments stay vigilant and collaborate with states to guide farmers toward crop choices suited to drier conditions. He also asked the Department of Water Resources to keep a close watch on reservoir levels nationwide. To conserve water, the Home Minister stressed promoting less water-intensive crops such as millets, pulses and fodder as a buffer against a weak monsoon.

On the energy front, the Home Minister asked the Ministry of Power to ensure there was no disruption and that electricity supply remained adequate across the country. The concerned officials at the meeting briefed him that stocks of essential food grains were sufficient and that prices of key commodities were stable for now.

Floods In The Northeast And The El Nino Factor

During the drought review, Amit Shah instructed the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to immediately send an inter-ministerial central team to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The team will assess damage from recent floods, flash floods and landslides, looking at infrastructure, farmland and homes to enable further central assistance.

The senior officials from Agriculture, Water Resources, Power, Environment, Science and Technology, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, along with the Union Home Secretary and Agriculture Secretary, took part in the discussions.

The meteorologists present at the meeting stated that El Nino conditions are currently present over the equatorial Pacific and are likely to intensify during the June-September monsoon period, a pattern typically tied to weaker rains over India. The experts said that with the Indian Ocean Dipole in a neutral phase, it was unlikely to counterbalance El Nino’s negative effect this year.

The IMD’s outlook for below-normal rainfall in July has only added to the urgency, raising concerns about kharif sowing and water availability in the coming weeks.