Govt to declare drought soon: Fadnavis

The Maharashtra government is expected to declare drought in the state soon.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that rainfall in Marathwada was significantly less this year which has led to a drought-like situation in the region.

“The state government has started conducting panchnamas in the affected areas and will declare drought once inspection from a team from the Central government is completed,” Fadnavis said while speaking at the inauguration of a health project in Latur, a district of Marathwada.

HT on October 4 had reported that the state has begun the process to declare drought. Twelve

districts — Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Dhule, Nandurbar, Ahmednagar, and Jalgaon — have received deficient rainfall this season and are now staring at sever water shortage. that Marathwada and regions in north Maharashtra have received less than average rainfall that has led to damage of crops and water scarcity. “After how many farmer suicides will the government declare drought in the affected areas?” Chavan said.

Between June and Septemberend, Maharashtra received about 77% of its average rainfall, which means it is facing a 23% deficit. The state has already deployed 329 tankers to supply drinking water to districts across state.

In terms of water stock, Marathwada has only 28.44% water in its dams. Jayakwadi dam, the lifeline of the Marathawada region, situated at Paithan, has just 42.51% water stock. Last year at this time, it had more than 100% water stock.

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