Two-third of Uttar Pradesh districts face drought

More than two-third of the districts in Uttar Pradesh are facing an acute drought, officials said Saturday.

Officials said more than 53 of its 75 districts were reeling under an acute drought because of below average rainfall during the monsoon months that has affected agriculture and the paddy crop adversely.

Out of these districts, officials said the condition in at least 19 is "very acute and severe".

The rainfall has been only 40 percent of the average, an official told IANS, adding Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan to assess the drought conditions so that relief could be provided to farmers.

The chief secretary has asked district magistrate of the affected districts to prepare a status report and submit it to the government at the earliest.

"Once the government receives a status report with regards to the district administration's assessment, we will propose compensation and final assistance," an official told IANS.

Officials said there are acute drought conditions in Rampur, Meerut, Budaun, Auraiyya, Saharanpur, Etah, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Hapur, Mainpuri, Mahoba, Etawah, Kanpur dehat, Hardoi, Firozabad, Hardoi, Farukkhabad, Bulandshahr and Ghaziabad areas.

Of the normal drought affected districts, prominent are Mau, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Azamgarh, Mathura, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Kannauj and Hathras.

The opposition has attacked the state government for delay in identifying the drought.