12 member Central team to monitor drought in Marathwada

Will go to four districts: Review the losses in Kharif season

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: During the rainy season in Marathwada, there was 15 percent rainfall deficit. Six out of eight districts received low rainfall. August was dry due to lack of rain. As a result the productivity of kharif crops decreased by about 55 to 60 percent. On this backdrop, a team of 12 members of the ministry of agriculture is coming to inspect four districts of Marathwada on December 13 and 14 to review the drought and kharif losses in the state.

The team will visit some tehsils and villages of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Beed and Dharashiv districts. The team will hold a meeting in Pune on December 15 and submit a report to the Central government. Based on the report, the Central government will announce help for drought affected areas as per NDRF criteria. The state government has planned to provide around Rs 2214 crores for the drought.

Union agriculture department joint secretary Priya Rajan is the team leader. Four teams have been formed under her leadership. On December 13, one team will go to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna and another team will go to Beed and Dharashiv districts. On December 14, two teams will go to Pune and Solapur, Nashik and Jalgaon.

Decisions taken by the State govt

Drought has been declared in 261 circles in eight districts of Marathwada. The state government added 1,021 circles to the drought list in addition to 40 tehsils. Revenue circles in the 40 drought-declared tehsils of the state have received less than 75 per cent rainfall on average from June to September 2023. It includes 30 circles in Dharashiv, 46 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 21 in Nanded, 38 in Parbhani, 52 in Beed, 45 in Latur, 16 in Hingoli and 16 in Jalna.