20,000 Maharashtra villages under Drought threat
Out of the 40,559 villages in Maharashtra, around 20,000 villages are under drought threat, these villages are facing water crisis due to low rainfall.
The villages which are facing water crisis have received less than 75% of the average required rainfall. 12 districts in Marathwada and north Maharashtra are facing the water crisis. These include Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Dhule, Nandurbar, Ahmednagar and Jalgaon.
The state government stated that it is identifying the situation, the elements are working out to find the worst drought-hit places so that the preliminary measures can be immediately sent to such places.
The state government is likely to declare drought-like situations in affected villages in the coming week, the drought will be declared by the end of the month, after complete observation and examination of the conditions of the villages.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked his council of ministers to visit the affected tehsils and submit reports on the ground situation to a cabinet sub-committee on drought by October 30.
“Each minister may have to visit three or four tehsils and submit reports to the state government. The state will then take a decision over declaring drought, by October 31.”
– CM Devendra Fadnavis
Relief & Rehabilitation Minister Chandrakant Patil is heading the committee which is assessing the affected areas and has assured all the possible help to the affected areas.
The relief and rehabilitation minister, however, said if 20,000 villages were reeling under a water crisis, it doesn’t mean all of them will be declared drought-hit.
“The number may decrease or it may remain the same. Everything depends upon the National Centre for Crop Forecasting (NCCF) report and ground-truthing.” Patil said.
As of now, 354 tankers have been deployed to supply water to affected areas out of which 198 tankers have been deployed to Marathwada and 125 tankers to North Maharashtra.
The state relief and rehabilitation ministry have developed the website called Maha Madat with the help of the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) which will analyze the drought-like situation in Maharashtra.
Prevailing situations:
- 20,000 villages around the state may face the water crisis.
- 1350 villages in Aurangabad with failed crops.
- 200 talukas in 12 districts facing water shortage.
- 56% of the average rainfall witnessed by Aurangabad.
- 28,662 of the 40,559 villages were declared drought-hit.
