Maharashtra govt declares drought in 40 talukas affected by scanty rainfall

The government would urgently seek necessary assistance from the Centre even as the Relief and Rehabilitation Department has been directed to quickly decide on the appropriate relief for the affected areas.

Mumbai:The Maharashtra government on Tuesday declared drought in 40 talukas, including Baramati, in 15 districts which are hit by scanty rainfall. While 24 talukas, including Baramati and Yeola- the constituencies of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and his cabinet colleague Chhagan Bhujba (both from NCP), respectively- have been classified as severely affected, the rest 16 are moderately affected talukas.

The government would urgently seek necessary assistance from the Centre even as the Relief and Rehabilitation Department has been directed to quickly decide on the appropriate relief for the affected areas. The decision to declare drought was taken at the state cabinet meeting based on the information provided by the Relief and Rehabilitation Department on the situation regarding the crop water situation.

"Due to scanty rainfall, drought has been declared in 40 talukas in 15 districts during the Kharif season by the state cabinet on Tuesday. Accordingly, necessary assistance will be urgently requested from the Centre in view of the drought situation," a statement said. The Drought Management Code of 2016 was taken into consideration, which included mandatory indicators and impact indicators.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis have also instructed the Relief and Rehabilitation Department's sub-committee to quickly decide on the appropriate relief for the affected talukas, as per the statement. Maharashtra received 13.4 per cent less rainfall this year, and the Rabi sowing is also delayed. So far, only 12 per cent of the sowing has been done, it said.

The government has also decided to provide assistance up to three hectares (of land) instead of two hectares to the victims of natural disasters as per the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norms. Events like extreme rainfall and natural disasters caused agricultural losses from June to October this year.

As per SDRF norms, instead of a two-hectare limit, aid will now be given up to three hectares. The assistance which was restricted to farmers with small landholdings will now be available up to the three-hectare limit to those who are not small landholding farmers.