Maha declares drought-like situation in 180 talukas
Loss of crop yet to be calculated; Centre will send a team to villages to assess the extent of damage, based on which the central govt will allocate funds
In the recent history of the state, this would be the first time when state government forced to announce droughtlike situation in the month of October. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while declaring drought-like situation in 180 talukas of the state, said the situation would worsen in next few months. Mitigation measures will be implemented in more than 14,000 affected villages beginning Tuesday.
The agenda for this week's cabinet centred around the drought-like situation. After the cabinet, Fadnavis, told the media the government has adopted scientific method to classify the drought-like hit villages.
“The state has completed the final list of villages to be included in the affected list, however, the actual loss of the crop is yet to calculated. It will be pre-mature to predict the expected crop loss and the relief amount to be asked from the Centre,” said the CM.
This would be the fifth drought in the state since year 2008. In the year 2015, 23,811 villages out of total 39,453 villages were affected, two third state. In fact, in 2016, based on a litigation, the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches were thrown out of Maharashtra due to the excessive requirement of water for the pitches. The state had released relief of Rs 2,000 crore and had sought relief of Rs 4,000 crore from the Centre. Even at that time, this Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government had been reluctant to call declare drought.
An official from CMO claimed this time also the state would have to release relief of at least Rs 4,000 crore from its exchequer, while it expects the same amount from the Centre.
"The relief measures will include concessions in land revenue, power bills for the irrigation pumps, educational fees, continued power supply to agriculture pumps, availability of tankers for drinking water. The Central Government team to visit soon and declare assistance," said Fadnavis.