"Is Eknath Shinde government aware of severity of situation": Vijay Wadettiwar on threat of drought in Maharashtra

Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Thursday said that the state is in serious danger of a drought and questioned whether the Eknath Shinde government was aware of the severity of the situation.

He said 13 districts have received below-average rainfall in the last one and a half months. The Congress leader claimed that several reports have stated that farmer suicides in the state are on the rise because of the drought-like conditions and government apathy. How are we concerned? We just need to give assurances and walk away. This is the agenda of this government, he said.

Wadettiwar shared what he claimed rainfall data of districts that have received scanty showers so far this monsoon. He said Sangli has got 45 per cent less rainfall than average. He claimed it is 19 per cent less in Nanded, 35 per cent less in Solapur, 40 per cent less in Satara, 27 per cent less in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (earlier Aurangabad), Jalna (43), Beed (43), Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad (32), Parbhani (31), Amravati (30), Washim (22) and Akola (29).