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AP seeks Rs 7.2 billion to tackle drought

Shireen in Hyderabad

The Andhra Pradesh government has sought a massive assistance of Rs 7.2 billion from the Indian government for tackling the severe drought that has gripped the southern state.

During the wrap-up discussions on Monday with a central team that had toured the state to assess the drought situation, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu urged the Indian government to immediately release an ad hoc assistance of Rs 2 billion to undertake relief work.

He said that the state needed a central assistance of Rs 7.2 billion in the long term to ameliorate the condition of the people hit by drought.

During the last four years, the state faced cyclones coupled with floods and drought in the alternate years, he said. The drought situation during the current year was 'very severe'. He said that there was deficient rainfall in as many as 512 mandals.

Owing to drought, the hydel power generation at the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams had also been affected, he added.

The chief minister said that crops over an area of 1,026,000 hectares had been affected and the loss has been estimated at Rs 25.6 billion. He said the state government has released Rs 1.32 billion so far for undertaking relief measures.

Later, the state cabinet reviewed the drought situation and decided to declare 190 more mandals as drought-affected in addition to the 246 mandals already notified as drought-hit. The decision was taken after considering the reports received from the district collectors concerned on damage to crops, crop coverage, number of dry spells and deficiency of rainfall, etc.

The cabinet also decided to accelerate the ongoing work under the Employment Assurance Scheme, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, Watershed Development Programme in the drought-affected areas.

The cabinet approved the release of Rs 694 million for employment generation, augmentation of drinking water supply and fodder development.

Chandrababu Naidu said that able-bodied labourers had been leaving the villages with their wives and children for urban areas in search of labour and that the old people had been left high and dry in the villages.

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