Drought can be defeated if villagers come together: Fadnavis

Drought can be defeated if villagers come together to conserve water, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said while inspecting works done here by the Paani Foundation, an NGO started by actor Aamir Khan.

Fadnavis, who was on a tour of Jat taluka in Maharashtra's Sangli district, inspected the water conservation works in Aundhi and Bagalwadi villages in the taluka.

"Through the Paani Foundation today, the entire village has come together. I am proud I have been with you," Fadnavis told villagers.

Hitting out at previous governments, Fadnavis said that, in the last 50 years, no plan had reached the grassroots level.

"About 50 per cent villages in the state face drought. This drought does not end just by building dams. Water conservation works have to be carried out right up to the grassroots level. Today 11,000 villages are drought-free in the state and the figure will go up to 20,000 this year," Fadnavis said.