Alirajpur Congress seeks drought status as farmers across western Madhya Pradesh protest crop loss and power cuts

Protests over drought and electricity supply have been reported from several parts of western Madhya Pradesh this week, with Congress workers in Alirajpur demanding that the district be declared drought-hit, according to the Free Press Journal. Party workers burned an effigy of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at Cinema Square in Alirajpur on Tuesday, the newspaper reported.

Hundreds of workers, led by former district Congress president Mahesh Patel and Omprakash Rathore, marched to the collector's office and handed a memorandum to Collector Neetu Mathur. They asked for a drought declaration for the district, immediate relief and compensation for affected farmers, and a permanent solution to the electricity problem. Patel warned of further protests if the demands were not met, and Rathore alleged that tribal farmers were being ignored. These are the claims of the protesters, and the report did not carry a response from the administration.

The demand follows an earlier appeal. On 2 September the Janhit Sangharsh Samiti of Kukshi submitted a memorandum to the chief minister through the sub-divisional officer, asking that Kukshi, Dahi, Gandhwani and Manawar tehsils be declared drought-affected. The committee said deficient rain had badly hit soybean, chilli and cotton, that cotton and chilli crops also faced disease, and that wells, rivers and ponds were largely dry.

State-level data also point to a weak monsoon. Dainik Jagran reported on 3 October that Madhya Pradesh received about 904 mm of rain by 30 September, or 95.4 per cent of normal, which it described as the lowest seasonal total in five years. It said 30 districts received below-normal rain, 11 recorded less than 80 per cent of their normal quota, and Alirajpur was among the worst affected, with rainfall below half of normal.

Power supply is the second grievance. About 300 farmers from Bakaner and nearby villages gathered at the Bakaner power grid at 1 am on Monday, alleging that Executive Engineer Kalam Singh Tadwal was rude and gave unsatisfactory answers, the Free Press Journal reported. Mr Tadwal said his phone had run out of charge and that officials had been asked to avoid power cuts between 6 pm and 1 am. MLA Hiralal Alawa warned he would join a larger agitation if scheduled cuts continued during Navratri, and SDM Pramod Gurjar instructed the engineer to address the concerns.

In Alot, farmers from several villages submitted a memorandum complaining of electricity bills of up to Rs 24,000 for three-horsepower motors. That protest was led by BJP Mandal president Dilip Singh Dodia, so it was not confined to opposition parties. Executive Engineer Mahendra Maida promised an investigation and correction of the bills if errors were found, according to the report.

In August, an IANS report said the chief minister had directed the revenue department to survey crop damage transparently and speed up compensation from the Disaster Relief Fund. The reports reviewed here do not say whether a formal drought declaration has been ordered for Alirajpur or any other district.