LUCKNOW - With a weak monsoon bringing in only scanty rainfall, most lakes, ponds and other water bodies used to irrigate vast areas in Uttar Pradesh are drying up fast, officials said Friday.

Nearly 75 percent of the water in over 50 lakes that are under the supervision of the irrigation department have dried up and availability of water would decrease further if rains continue to elude Uttar Pradesh.

“As many as 24 lakes spread across Jhansi, Hamirpur, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Banda and Chitrakoot districts in the state have almost dried up,” said an irrigation department official.

In Mirzapur district, there is 13 percent water left in the Ghori lake, six percent in the Belan-Garai, five percent in the Adava and four percent in the Bakhar lakes.

In Chandauli district, Lateefshah and Bhainsora lakes are left with five and seven percent water respectively. The Nagava lake in Sonbhadra district is left with less than five percent water.

Scanty rainfall has become a matter of concern for farmers in the state.

According to the agriculture directorate, nearly 60 lakh hectare land was to be used for paddy but now only 52 lakh hectare is expected to be sown with the crop.

With scanty rains, the agriculture department expects 20-30 percent drop in kharif crop yield. Paddy production is expected to be 131 lakh metric tonnes against target of 135 metric tonnes and coarse grain 245 lakh tonnes against 254 lakh tonnes.

“Around 70 percent of agricultural land in the state is under insured irrigation through tube wells and canals. Directions have been issued by the chief minister to provide electricity to villages for 8-10 hours daily to ensure irrigation, even if it means power cuts in cities,” said agriculture department director R.R. Verma.

According to the state met department, the average per district rainfall in the state from July 1 to July 6 has been 44.4 mm, 67 percent below normal. In eastern Uttar Pradesh, average rain per district has been 57 mm so far, 62 percent below normal.

In western Uttar Pradesh, average rain in the same period has been 76 percent below normal at 25.4 mm.

The met department has forecast a revival of the monsoon in the next six to seven days.