Maharashtra: Severe drought declared in 112 talukas, 39 put under medium category

Each year droughts grips Maharashtra and farmers suffer. This year too, the Bharatiya Janata Party government, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, declared “severe drought” in 112 talukas of Maharashtra on Wednesday. Along with this, the state government placed 39 talukas under “medium drought” category.

With the latest announcement by the state government, the total tally of the drought affected talukas reached to 151. It is to be known that there are altogether 355 talukas in the state.

Taking measures to provide maximum relief for the farmers, the government has directed the officials not to relax relief measures in these talukas, which include deployment of water tankers, employment to villagers, electricity and education fee waiver, among others, reports Indian Express.

The government’s decision of drought-mitigation measures — scaled up from October 31 — will continue for the next six months. Fadnavis government announced its decision to declare “severe drought” in 112 talukas on the day it completed four years.

Announcing the decision, Fadnavis said, as quoted by national daily, “It is a formidable challenge as we are heading for a severe drought in Maharashtra. Poor rain coupled with a long dry spell leading to crop losses adversely impacted 151 talukas in the state. Of which 112 are under severe drought category.”

Adding more information, an official in the relief and rehabilitation department said, “Ideally, drought is declared only after the rabi season in December-end or January. But the government decided to acknowledge the current situation and rush relief measures.” Previously, the state had declared 182 talukas as drought-prone.

The “severe drought” declared 12 talukas are in these districts — Sangli (5), Solapur (9), Satara (1), Dhule (2), Palghar (3), Jalgaon (13), Nandurbar (3), Nashik (4), Ahmednagar (11), Aurangabad (9), Beed (11), Jalna (7), Nanded (2), Osmanabad (7), Parbhani (6), Hingoli (2), Amravati (1), Buldhana (7), Yavatmal (6), Nagpur (2) and Chandrapur (1).

Other talukas declared put under medium drought category are in — Pune (7), Satara (2), Dhule (1), Nashik (4), Nanded (1), Hingoli (1), Amravati (4), Buldhana (1), Washim (1), Yavatmal (3), Akola (5), Nandurbar (1), Latur (1), Chandrapur (4), Nagpur (1), Wardha (2).

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