Kangra News
Two-Month Dry Spell in Kangra Triggers Water Shortages and Crop Concerns
Farmers in Kangra worry as an unprecedented two-month dry spell reduces river discharge by 40%, dries irrigation channels and shuts small hydropower projects. Experts hope winter rain will save wheat crops amid one of Himachal’s driest winters.
Farmers in the lower areas of Kangra district are increasingly anxious as the region faces an unbroken dry spell lasting nearly two months. Rainfall has remained significantly below normal in several parts of the district, raising concerns about the health of the wheat crop.
Agriculture Department officials, however, maintain that the standing crop is not under immediate threat. Experts expect improved rainfall in December, January and February, which they believe will help prevent further damage.
A senior officer of the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department noted a drastic decline in water discharge from major rivers and rivulets across the Kangra valley—down to nearly 40 per cent. He warned that continued absence of rain could trigger a drinking water crisis. Many irrigation channels have already dried up due to the reduced flow from rivers and local khuds. In several areas, drinking water is now being supplied only twice a day. The lower belt of Palampur is among the worst affected, with local water sources also depleted.
The prolonged dry conditions have forced several small hydroelectric power projects dependent on the Neugal, Baner, Binwa and Awa khuds to shut down. The Dhauladhar range, which normally feeds these rivers, has not received any snow this season.
Himachal Pradesh is currently facing an extraordinary meteorological situation—its driest winter in years—with no rain recorded since the first week of September. The current deficit resembles that of 2023 and 2007, when rainfall was down by 99 per cent during the same period.
Weather scientists attribute the lack of snowfall to unusual atmospheric conditions. Typically, snowfall results from an interaction between cold air from the North Pole and warm air from the Mediterranean region. This year, however, unusually low winds over the North Pole suppressed the usual low-pressure systems, disturbing established weather patterns.
Meanwhile, cold wave conditions and dense fog have further disrupted life in the plains and foothills of Kangra, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Solan districts.
