Maharashtra government has declared drought in 151 talukas of the state on Wednesday. Of these, 112 talukas have severe drought and 39 have registered moderate drought. Out of 26 drought-hit districts; eight are from Vidarbha and Marathwada each, five are from North Maharashtra, four are from Western Maharashtra and one from Konkan region.
The drought declaration process has been revised for the first time in this year. Norms have also been revised which were laid by the central government to fight drought. Opposition leaders are criticising government for excluding a large number of villages and talukas from the list of drought affected areas.
“20,000 villages in 201 talukas are drought hit. But drought has been declared only in 151 talukas. When will drought be declared in the remaining 50 talukas,” questioned Ashok Chavan, former Maharashtra chief minister.
Massive public response to the Jan Sangharsh Yatra has forced the government to finally declare drought in Maharashtra.
20,000 villages in 201 talukas are drought hit. But drought has been declared only in 151 talukas. When will drought be declared in the remaining 50 talukas? pic.twitter.com/Y0e9Rusj5c
— Ashok Chavan (@AshokChavanINC) October 31, 2018
Opposition leader in Legislative Council, Dhananjay Munde, blamed government for wasting time in declaring drought. He said, “Earlier, the Chief Minister said that the government would take the decision about declaring a drought after visit by a team from Union government. He had to bow before the public pressure. It shows that he was only killing time before”.
The state received only 77 % of its average rainfall this year. Will Maharashtra government be able to fight ‘severe drought’ situation? Will it include other ‘left-out’ talukas in the list?
