PM reviews drought situation in Madhya Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reviewed the drought and water scarcity situation in Madhya Pradesh during a meeting here with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and senior officials.

"An amount of Rs.1,875.80 crore has been released to the state under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), in addition to Rs.657.75 crore as central share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2015-16," a statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

"Also, Rs.345.37 crore has been released as first instalment of the SDRF for 2016-17," it added.

Apprising the prime minister of steps taken for drought relief, Chouhan said that 61 lakh farmers have been given Rs.4,664 crore as relief.

"The chief minister said that despite second successive year of deficient monsoon, transportation of water is required only in 113 villages. He said even if it does not rain till June-end, this number will go up to be only around 400 villages out of approximately 50,000 villages in the state," an official said.

Modi is holding meetings with chief ministers of the drought-affected states to assess the specific requirements of each, and to focus attention on both immediate and long- term measures, officials said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi held a similar meeting with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

--IANS

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