Central team to assess drought situation in Marathwada

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The divisional commissioner Madhukarraje Ardad, reviewed the status of drought situation and loss of Kharif crops, in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Beed and Dharashiv, online on Monday.

It may be noted that a Central Team comprising 12-members from the union Ministry of Agriculture will be visiting the above four districts of Marathwada on December 13 and 14.

There is a shortage of rainfall by around 20 percent compared to last year. There are eight districts of Marathwada, out of which, six had received very less rainfall in the season. There was no rainfall in the whole month of August in the region. As a result, the production of Kharif crops dropped by 55 to 60 per cent.

It is learnt that the team will conduct a meeting in Pune on December 15 and then submit its ground report to the centre. Later on, as per the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) parameters, the Central Government will grant aid to these drought-hit areas.

The team led by joint secretary of the Central Government’s Department of Agriculture Priya Rajan and it comprises Maharashtra Institute of Development Administration (MIDA) secretary Manoj K, joint director Jagdish Sahu, research officer of NITI Ayog Shiv Charan Meena, additional advisor (water supply) A Murlidharan, director (water resources) Harish Umbarje, deputy secretary (rural development) Pradeep Kumar, secretary (water supply) Sangeet Kumar, joint commissioner (animal husbandry) H R Khanna, director (Cotton Development) Dr A H Waghmare, deputy director of Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) Dr Sunil Dubey and MIDA consultant Chirag Bhatia.

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The decisions likely to be taken after the approval of the assessment report includes concession in land revenue, delay in recovery of loan taken against agricultural land, restructurising cooperative loans, 33.5 percent discount in power bills to agri-consumers, waiving of educational cess, relaxation in the parameters to get EGS works, supplying of water through tankers, the power connections of farmers will not be disconnected in the villages declared as scarcity-hit etc. The insurance companies may also be directed to make payments to the farmers, said the sources.