Mumbai/Washim, Sep 24 With several areas of the state staring at crop losses due to an extended dry spell, the Maharashtra government on Thursday said it would issue an order on September 25 to provide immediate relief to farmers, and formed a cabinet sub-committee.
The sub-committee headed by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule will monitor the drought-like situation in the state and recommend immediate relief measures, officials said.
Speaking to reporters at Amravati airport after visiting drought-affected areas of Washim district in eastern Maharashtra, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis admitted that the situation was “extremly serious”, and said the government would provide assistance under ‘Trigger 1’ of the state’s drought relief code without waiting for assistance from the Centre.
“The order for providing assistance to farmers will be issued tomorrow,” he said.
Some areas may have been left out under the initial trigger, and these would be included under the third trigger, said Fadnavis as he visited Mhasla in Karanja taluka, Mohgavhan in Mangrulpir taluka and Jaulka in Malegaon taluka in Washim to assess the crop and water situation.
The CM spoke with farmers and inspected damaged soybean and tur (pigeon pea) crops. “We inspected the farms today. Tomorrow, we will initiate government resolution (GR) on dry drought and provide help to all farmers,” he said while interacting with farmers.
“There is no water anywhere. Crops have dried up, especially soybean which has been greatly affected. Farmers have suffered losses,” he said, adding that the dry spell could lead to fodder and drinking water shortages.
The government had already started implementing a loan waiver scheme and waived electricity bills of farmers, Fadnavis noted.
Banks would have to provide loans to farmers who had received the waiver as per rules, and would be asked not to carry out recoveries during this difficult period, the CM added.
“But along with these, farmers will now need direct assistance because in some places they may face fodder problems, in some places children’s education will be at risk, and in some places there will be a shortage of foodgrains. In all these, the government will help the affected farmers,” he said.
Farmers will get irrigation assistance for Rabi crops too, he added.
Asked about Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray’s demand that a special session of the Maharashtra legislature be called to discuss the situation, Fadnavis said this was not a political issue.
“Why should there be politics when our farmers are in distress? We will figure out how to help farmers,” the CM said.
The focus would be on watershed-related works, including desilting dried-up water bodies and repairing or constructing water conservation structures, in order to provide employment, he said.
Efforts would be made to ensure farmers receive the assistance before Diwali, he said.
The government will procure agricultural produce at the prescribed support prices, and the registration for procurement would begin soon, Fadnavis said.
The cabinet sub-committee for monitoring the drought-like situation will undertake field visits and review the situation concerning crop damage, drinking water availability and fodder requirements, officials said. It will meet every week and submit a comprehensive report.
The Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation Department had issued a Government Resolution on September 23 laying down the committee’s responsibilities.
Besides the Chief Secretary, the committee includes nine ministers: Girish Mahajan (Water Resources and Disaster Management), Gulabrao Patil (Water Supply and Sanitation), Sanjay Rathod (Soil and Water Conservation), Pankaja Munde (Animal Husbandry, Environment and Climate Change), Dattatray Bharne (Agriculture), Jaykumar Gore (Rural Development), Pratap Sarnaik (Transport), Makarand Jadhav Patil (Relief and Rehabilitation) and Babasaheb Patil (Cooperation).
Makrand Jadhav Patil, who visited drought-affected areas in Chikhli taluka of Buldhana district on Thursday, said no farmer affected by the prolonged dry spell would be deprived of government assistance.
The eastern Maharashtra district has received 77.9 per cent of its average rainfall between June and September, according to an official statement. All 13 talukas in the district have experienced dry spells of more than 20 days.
Rainfall in August was only 53.7 per cent of the average, while September has so far received only 30.7 per cent of the average rainfall, the minister said.
(PTI News)
