Central team in Bihar to assess drought situation

The three groups took off for Nawada,Munger and Saran by choppers. The Central team members held discussions with senior officials there and enlisted their demands for tackling the drought.

The District Magistrates and Deputy Development Commissioners,among others,briefed the officials about the situation and submitted a memorandum seeking the assistance required for the affected families,official sources said.

Altogether 26 of the 38 districts of Bihar have been declared drought-hit. Districts under Magadh,Munger,Saran and Tirhut divisions are among the worst affected.

The Central team would also visit far-flung areas and have independent assessment of the situation where they would also discuss with the social activists,farmers and public representatives. DROUGHT-TEAM 2 LAST After undertaking district-wise assessment of the situation,the team members would return here on August 21 and hold a high-level meeting with top state officials,including chief secretary Anup Mukherjee,Disaster Management principal secretary Vyasji,Agriculture secretary and others before meeting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the evening.

Kumar had on Sunday wrote to the Prime Minister seeking an assistance of Rs 23,071 crore to meet the financial burden caused by the “unprecedented” drought situation in the state.

The financial requirements of the state could go up in case the other districts also received scanty rainfall in the coming weeks,the Chief Minister said.

The drought affected around 1.26 crore families in 26 districts with paddy coverage showing an overall shortfall of 57 per cent.

With the coverage of other main crop maize also coming down to 27.4 per cent during the current sowing season due to scanty rains,the government might consider declaring the remaining 12 districts as drought hit.

Of the Rs 23,071 crore allocation sought for tackling drought,huge expenditure has been suggested towards providing relief to the 1.26 crore families,besides Rs 10,845 crore for employment generation under NREGA and other schemes.