Mumbai/Pune: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday met union home minister Amit Shah and union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and discussed the severe drought situation in the state, seeking immediate assistance from the central government.
“Records since the early 2000s show that drought is officially announced in late November or December. The government was prepared to relax certain procedural requirements to ensure that farmers receive assistance quickly, he added. The chief minister raised concerns over the shortage of drinking water and fodder in 80% of Maharashtra’s 358 talukas and submitted an interim proposal to the home minister, seeking a ₹ 17,500-crore package towards compensation for crop losses and arrangement of fodder under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). On September 26, the state government had declared drought in 265 out of the 358 talukas across Maharashtra and initiated relief measures. “About 20 more talukas that may not meet certain satellite-imagery-based criteria could still be considered (for drought relief) on the basis of rainfall, groundwater levels and ground verification. To tackle the situation, the district administration has set up Maharashtra’s first dedicated drought relief war room, as per an order issued by district collector Bharat Bastewad under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the Drought Management Code, 2016.
But we announced the drought in September itself, so that affected people get relief immediately,” Fadnavis said.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Fadnavis said the Centre had agreed to consider drought relief even in talukas where some technical criteria were not met. Crop losses caused by uneven rainfall would also be taken into account,” he said.
Fadnavis said the state government would not wait for central funds to arrive before helping farmers and the state was preparing to provide assistance from its own resources, with crop surveys already completed in some areas and underway in others.
“The home minister has responded positively and assured that the Centre would provide maximum possible assistance,” Fadnavis said.
