Rajasthan seeks over Rs 2,819 cr from Centre for 9 drought-affected districts

The Rajasthan government on Wednesday sought an assistance of Rs 2,819.58 crore from the inter-ministerial Centre's team to tackle problems in drought affected areas in nine districts of the state.

In a meeting held Wednesday, state chief secretary D B Gupta briefed the Centre's team about the status of drought affected areas in the state.

He informed the team that a large area was affected due to drought as the state received scanty rainfall this monsoon.

Kharif crop has suffered losses due to less rainfall recorded in several parts of the state, and timely relief measure, fodder depot for livestock animals and additional funds for cow shelters can help address the problem, he said.

State Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Hemant Kumar Gera briefed about water availability and ground water status in the nine affected districts of Barmer, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Jalore, Jodhpur, Hanumangarh, Pali, Churu and Nagaur.

He said the nine districts recorded 217.44 mm rainfall from June to September, which is 26.45 per cent less than the normal rainfall.

As many as 5,555 revenue villages of 58 tehsils of these districts were drought affected and 17.95 lakh farmers suffered crop loss of over 33 per cent, he said.

Gera said 72.50 lakh people and 86.59 lakh livestock animals were affected in the nine districts.

Recently, a 11-member Centre's team under joint secretary (agriculture) Dinesh Kumar had visited drought affected areas in the state.

Kumar, during the meeting, expressed satisfaction over the efforts of the state in providing relief to the affected people in the areas. He said the team was convinced that the conditions in drought affected areas are not good and crops have suffered losses.