Drought like situation stared at the farmers of several parts of this district as cracks developed in paddy fields due to insufficient rainfall this Kharif season, reports said. With little to no rain, farmers feared of severe crop loss due to lack of rain. At present, the crops are in flowering stage and farmers apprehend if the situation does not improve within a week, the crops may wither away. Moreover, the non-supply of irrigation water has compounded the woes of the farmers as canals in the district have dried up and many lift irrigation points are lying defunct. The worst sufferers are the farmers of villages under Nuagaon, Balikuda and Raghunathpur block as thousands of hectares of paddy fields with standing crops have developed cracks as irrigation water does not reach tail end of canals. According to official reports, 22,825 hectares of paddy fields are irrigated by water of Taladanda canal, another 34,083 hectares by Machgaon canal, 8,000 hectares by lift irrigation points, 11,180 hectares by shallow tubewells, 2,550 hectares by Mahanadi barrage and the remaining 1,920 hectares by other water sources. In this Kharif crop season, around 75,386 hectares of land were irrigated. Following inadequate rainfall, water did not reach to 25,062 hectares as shallow tubewells have dried up while LI points are lying defunct. In many areas like Tiruna, Gajrajpur, Alana, Ghodansa, Dabar, Galadhari and Deriki, irrigation water does not reach the tail end of canals. On the other hand, the authorities concerned are yet to repair the defunct lying lift irrigation points. As per sources, there are four lift irrigation points in Deriki panchayat that were installed in 2002. However, the points have not been put in use even after so many years. Similarly, the branch canal no-7 of Machgaon canal – Dhanipur to Gopalpur stretch which irrigates around 5,000 hectare of crop land has not supplied irrigation water for the last three months. When contacted, Executive Engineer, Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation, Cuttack division, Pabitra Mohan Parida informed that of 717 lift irrigation points, 235 were lying defunct and while another 22 defunct points were not in a condition to be revived. Worried farmers demanded the administration to take notice of their plight. They warned of agitation if water is not provided for irrigation at the earliest. Source - http://www.orissapost.com