Burdwan (West Bengal):
West Bengal, where 11 districts were declared drought-hit, registered its first farmer death on Saturday in the rice bowl of Burdwan district.
"Forty five-year-old farmer Yunus Sheikh of Basantapur village of Ausgram I block drank pesticide last evening and died at the Burdwan Medical College Hospital," SDO, Burdwan, (North) Arindam Neogi said.
"We have sought a report from the local BDO and panchayat samiti sabhapati," he said.
Family member Ziaur Rahman said he had outstanding loans since last year for raising crops on his land but lack of rains this year had driven him to desperation.
Yunus was entirely dependent on rain water to irrigate the paddy land as there was no irrigation facility in the area, he said.
Moreover, he had a daughter whom he could not marry off, Rahman said.
District agriculture department said of the total 17,000 hectare, kharif cultivation was done on 11,900 hectare, mainly due to monsoon failure.
The SDO said he directed the local administration to arrange for shallow pumps in the area and there should not be any load shedding there for 30 days so that those pumps could function.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was in the district to meet district officials over the drought situation.