Drought-like situation: Govt looks at speeding up aid

“These talukas will be given aid as per prevalent procedure. The sub-committee will look into whether any more help can be given to affected villages. Otherwise, we will have to wait till October for a prima facie tally of losses in kharif crop,” said Khadse .

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According to official data presented before the state cabinet on Tuesday, seven of the state’s districts suffered over 50 per cent rain deficit, and received between 26 and 50 per cent rains as compared to last year. These are Nashik, Solapur, Kolhapur, Beed, Latur, Osmanabad, and Parbhani. At least19 districts, including Sangli, Satara, Jalna, Aurangabad, Nanded, Hingoli, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri received 51 and 75 per cent rainfall.

Out of the 355 talukas in the state, 22 talukas are facing a rainfall deficit of over 50 percent. Five have been worst affected with quantity of rain being less than 25 percent, while 17 have received rainfall between 26 and 50 percent. Khadse said, “Other than talukas in districts such as Latur, Osmanabad, Beed, areas such as Nevasa, Shevgaon, Parner, Sangola, Muktainagar, Tasgaon and have been badly hit due to lack of rain.”

At least135 lakh hectare land is under kharif crop in Maharashtra. As of August 21, sowing had been completed in 124.7 lakh hectare or about 93 per cent of the total area.

Water levels in dams are alarmingly low, especially in Marathwada where water level is about 8 per cent.

Overall, water stock in dams across Maharashtra is 48 per cent as compared to 52 per cent last year.