Lucknow, July 10 - 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.