Maharashtra declares drought like situation in 19,069 villages

To seek central aid of Rs 10,000 cr to tackle crisis

Barely 20 days after it assumed office, the cash-strapped Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Maharashtra faces a major challenge to tackle the crop loss owing to scarcity in as well as untimely rain in various districts. The state Cabinet, which met on Tuesday, declared a drought-like situation in a record 19,069 of the total 39,134 villages where crop yield per acre fell below 50 paise.

Between June 1 and October 31, 2014, the state received an average 71.9 per cent rainfall. The low rainfall has severely damaged paddy, banana, soybean, pomegranate, grapes and other crops spread over 50,000 hectares.

The state government, which faces fund crunch, will ask the Centre to send teams to conduct field visits. It might also demand a financial aid of Rs 10,000 crore to tide over the situation. According to government officials, expenses on relief operations will put an additional burden on the state exchequer, especially when the revenue deficit in the past four months has sharply increased to Rs 26,000 crore from Rs 4,500 crore.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis clarified that the crop loss was due to agricultural drought and not due to hydrological drought. He said he would visit the affected villages between November 27 and 29.

“A detailed memorandum will be sent to the Centre within a week to provide assistance to farmers,” Fadnavis said. He added the Cabinet sub-committee was formed to conduct regular review of crop and farm conditions in those villages.

The government’s announcement comes close on the heels of the strong demand from the opposition parties including Shiv Sena and Congress, for immediate relief to farmers hit by the drought-like situation. The Nationalist Congress Party, which has extended support from outside to the Fadnavis-led government, has also made a strong case for declaring drought and implementing relief measures to farmers.