With farmers in Bihar hit by a massive deficit in monsoon rains, a BJP MP in Lok Sabha on Friday asked the Centre to take quick measures to declare the state drought-hit.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav said the situation in the state was “frighteningly bad” and the Centre needed to take immediate steps to provide relief to farmers.

He urged the central government to send a high-level team to review the situation in the state.

Quoting recent data, he said the state had received 41 per cent less than normal rains till July 31 following which more than 90 per cent of farmers are suffering from drought-like conditions.

As the largely rural and economically impoverished state depends mostly on rains to sustain agriculture, the sowing of paddy has taken place in less than half of the targeted 35 lakh hectares of land, Yadav said.

The lack of rain has also resulted in a fall in the water table, making it difficult to pump water into the fields.

The state’s Shahabad region, called the “rice bowl” due to its abundance of paddy, has been hit rather hard due to a lack of water for irrigation, he said.