37 of 50 MP districts declared drought-hit

Madhya Pradesh Government has declared 37 out of total 50 districts as drought-hit which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said would be the "worst drought of the century".

"Due to scanty rainfall, as many as 37 districts of the state were declared drought-affected," Chouhan told reporters here yesterday.  Chouhan said he had requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send a study team to assess the drought situation in the state.  The CM said he had demanded financial aid from the Centre to deal with the calamity especially in the worst-affected Bundelkhand region.

He also demanded the Centre to pay 50 per cent of the farmers' power bills in the affected areas as the remaining 50 per cent was being borne by the state government.

 

Official sources said the 37 distracts were declared as drought-affected due to less than 25-27 per cent rainfall there.

The districts which were declared drought-affected are Alirajpur, Ashok Nagar, Anuppur, Barwani, Bhind, Balaghat, Burhanpur, Chhatarpur, Dewas, Dindori, Datia, Damoh, Guna, Gwalior, Jhabua, Jabalpur, Katni, Khandwa, Morena, Mandla, Narsinghpur, Panna, Ratlam, Raisen, Rewa, Sidhi, Singrauli, Shahdol, Sagar, Sehore, Shivpuri, Sheopur, Satna, Kalan, Shajapur, Tikamgarh, Umaria and Vidisha.