The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Report on drought scenario in a week State seeks Rs. 1,200-cr. assistance

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 20, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Report on drought scenario in a week State seeks Rs. 1,200-cr. assistance

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 19. The Central team will submit its report on the drought situation in the State to the Union Government in a week with recommendations for assistance.

The 10-member team returned to the city today after touring parts of Karimnagar, Medak, Cuddapah and Chittoor in two separate groups for two days. They had a wrap-up meeting with the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, here this morning before returning to Delhi.

Anjali Prasad, team leader and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation, told reporters that they had visited several villages. Attention was given particularly to dried-up tank-beds, drinking water, availability of fodder to animals and crops damaged due to lack of wetting.

If they could not get down from vehicles anywhere, it might be due to the fact that farmers might be coming out with the same samples. The team members did not want to indicate their mind on whether the situation in the State was severe.

`Anantapur better placed'

The Commissioner for Disaster Management, Asutosh Mishra, who accompanied the team, told reporters that Anantapur was better this time compared with the other districts visited by them. Drought was a dynamic situation changing its profile as and when there was rain. The situation in Rayalaseema might improve as the North-East monsoon had just set in. Through a memorandum, the Government sought Rs. 1,200 crores of assistance and 23 lakh tonnes of rice, putting the total loss so far at Rs. 1,550 crores.

Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy highlighted the severity of the drought which hit the State for the fifth consecutive year this year and stated that Rs. 350 crores out of the Rs 1,200 crores, if given, would go for creating gainful employment.

Acute water crisis

He explained to the team that the deficit rainfall and low inflows into the Krishna had led to large-scale migration in many districts. The Sriramsagar Project had received the lowest ever inflows of less than 15 tmcft this year while and the Upper Maneru Dam got dried up. Drinking water scarcity was looming large over several villages.

The State might not seek any Central assistance once the contemplated projects came up ending the era of droughts.

The team was told that the sown area during kharif came down from 79.52 lakh hectares to 76.14 lakh hectares. Paddy faced a production loss of 20.16 lakh tonnes.

Groundnut crop was damaged in 8.56 lakh hectares, he told them.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh