Drought Condition in Maharashtra Worsens

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Amidst political tension at the Centre, many big issues in the states are being overlooked. While political parties are planning for the next year Lok Sabha polls, people of Maharashtra are left with their destiny to struggle for livelihood. The drought has affected more than 11000 villages in the Congress-ruled state. Nearly 50 per cent crops in more than 3500 villages have been damaged.

BJP President Rajnath Singh during his visit to drought affected areas of central Maharashtra demanded subsidies, free seeds, subsidised fertiliser and hundred percent subsidies on drip irrigation system for at least two years for the farmers.

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He demanded agricultural loans at zero percent interest rates for the farmers. The Centre has announced relief package worth Rs 1200 crore for the drought-hit regions of the state. However, the package was insufficient as the state government had demanded nearly Rs 1800 crore for drought relief.

The rampant corruption in irrigation projects could be blamed for the current situation in the state where thousands of villagers are suffering from scarcity of water. The state government has spent Rs 70,000 crore on irrigation projects but the condition remained same. BJP threatened to stall the Parliament session beginning April 22, 2013 over the issue.

The present condition suggested that the government is not serious about tackling drouhgt in the state. Of the total 34 districts in Maharashtra, the worst-affected are Solapur, Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Satara, Beed and Nashik. The situation is also serious in Buldhana, Latur, Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Jalna, Jalgaon and Dhule districts.

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