Govt. firm in providing 'permanent' remedy for drought: Javadekar

Asserting that several parts of the nation was staggering under the adverse effects of drought, Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday said the government is firm in providing a stable and permanent remedy to the crisis and prepare the resilience in the economy to face such situations.

Speaking to ANI here, Javadekar acknowledged that the current situation of drought was a very serious one as 25 percent population was affected this year.

Asserting that the continuous drought for second consecutive year was a natural calamity, he added that global warning and climate change were major contributing factors to the situation.

"I think the government led by Narendra Modi is very firm in providing a stable and permanent remedy and prepare the resilience in the economy to face such situations, where we are laying emphasis on irrigation, water saving and connecting rivers," Javadekar said.

He added the Centre is not only providing assistance to the states to mitigate the drought situation but also working on finding a permanent remedy, which was a 'major initiative' of the government.

Earlier, the Centre told the Supreme Court that more than a quarter of the country's population was in the grip of drought and was facing drinking water shortage besides severe agricultural distress.

The government asserted that it was releasing money to the affected states from its disaster fund to tackle the crisis.

Meanwhile, the first full 50-wagon water train, which left from Miraj near Pune yesterday, carrying 25 lakh litres of water, reached drought-hit Latur today.