110 tehsils drought-hit in Ch'garh; Rs 4,000-cr relief sought

Chhattisgarh government has included 17 more tehsils in the drought-hit category, taking the total number to 110 even as it sought a relief package of Rs 4,000 crore from the Centre to deal with the situation.
"During the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh yesterday, it was decided 17 tehsils with yield of 50 paise or less as drought-affected," a government spokesperson said here today.
Those districts where tehsils have been categorised drought-hit are Bemetara, Kawardha, Janjgir-Champa, Bastar, Kondagaon, Kanker, Kanker district and Narayanpur.
Keeping in view the situation, a 'Relief Package' proposal of nearly Rs 4,000 crore has been sent to the Central Government for undertaking relief works in all 110 drought-affected tehsils, he added.

Meanwhile the Cabinet also decided to commence the paddy procurement from farmers on support price from November 16, 2015 to January 31, 2016 for the Kharif marketing year 2015-16.
Several other important decisions were taken during the meeting.

Dearness Allowance for the state government employees has been hiked by 6 percentfrom July 1, 2015.
This has been hiked from 113 to 119 per cent and will lead to additional financial burden of nearly Rs 400 crore on the government, the official said.
Besides, the Cabinet has decided to establish Fire and Emergency Services and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) in Chhattisgarh.

"In upcoming decades, urban population is expected to rise drastically in several cities of the state. In view of which, establishing efficient fire and emergency services and State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) seems necessary," he said.
Fire-workers, home guards and State Disaster Relief Force will be brought under one roof under the initiative, he added.
Lands for fire stations will be earmarked in all 27 districts.
In the first phase, fire stations of A and B category will be established in ten districts namely Raipur, Bilaspur, Ambikapur, Jagdalpur, Rajnandgaon, Janjgir-Champa, Korba, Raigarh and Koriya.
In the second phase (second and third year), fire stations would be set up in remaining 17 districts.