Andhra declares drought

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Government seeks Rs 4000 crore from Centre

The Andhra Pradesh government has declared drought in 971 of the 1,128 mandals spread across 21 out of the 23 districts in the state. In spite of the recent rains in various parts of the state, these mandals have recorded, on an average, 32 per cent deficit rainfall.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Wednesday, chief minister K Rosaiah said the state would seek Rs 4,000 crore central assistance to tackle the drought situation. The state government would be submitting a memorandum to the Union government in this regard.

According to Rosaiah, former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy wanted to declare drought in the state on September 4 but could not do so due to his sudden death in a helicopter crash.

Keeping in view the model code of conduct, drought has not been declared in Srikakulam district where a byelection is being held for the Tekkali Assembly segment. Hyderabad also does not figure among the drought-affected districts as it has no rural pockets.

Consequent to the declaration of drought, Rosaiah said farmers whose crops had been damaged by more than 50 per cent would be eligible for supply of subsidised inputs. If the crops were not insured, they would also be eligible for rescheduling of crop loans.

The chief minister, who had been reviewing the seasonal conditions for the past two days, said the state government had already initiated several relief measures to mitigate the sufferings of the people.

Senior officials have been nominated as special officers to the districts to effectively monitor the implementation of drought relief measures.

Due to adverse seasonal conditions, the cropped area in the state has declined by 32 per cent to 5.3 million hectares compared with the kharif season's normal sown area of 7.9 million ha.

The agriculture department has prepared a Rs 417-crore contingency plan for promoting alternative crops. The alternative crops proposed include short duration paddy, jowar, castor, sunflower, horsegram, redgram and sesamum.

Similarly, departments of horticulture and animal husbandry have come out with contingency plans involving an outlay of Rs 142.51 crore and Rs 350 crore respectively.

While the horticulture department proposed to promote vegetable cultivation under irrigated conditions, the animal husbandry department would promote fodder cultivation and organise cattle camps wherever necessary.

Meanwhile, the government had decided to release water for drinking and irrigation requirement from Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam reservoirs, which are receiving copious inflows following rains in the catchment areas.