CM asks officials to accord top priority to drinking water supply, fodder
| Date :15-May-2019 |
Staff Reporter:
Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, interacted with 21 Sarpanchs from Nagpur district through audio-bridge from Mantralaya in Mumbai and took stock of drought situation. After interacting with the Sarpanch and getting acquainted with the situation at ground level, he asked the administrative officers concerned to accord top priority to ensuring supply of drinking water and fodder in affected areas. As many as 452 villages in Katol, Narkhed, and Kalmeshwar tehsils in Nagpur district have been declared as drought-hit. Fadnavis interacted with Sarpanchs namely Mangala Kalbande, Nitin Gajbhiye, Vinod Thakre, Dhananjay Dhote, Pravin Adkine, Sanjay Dafar, Savita Gotmare, Pooja Ridhorkar, Rekhchand Sawarkar, Gautam Ingle, Vijay Gunjal and others.
During the interaction, the Sarpanchs pointed out that not a single fodder camp was started for livestock in Katol, Narkhed, and Kalmeshwar tehsils. They also sought steps to be taken to mitigate water crisis in rural areas. Also, they suggested desilting of lakes, repairs of old water supply pipelines, and streamlining of drinking water supply. Some of the Sarpanchs sought installation of electric pump on weirs deepened and widened under Jalyukta Shivar Abhiyan. Some demanded special repairs of water supply schemes under Chief Minister’s Drinking Water Supply Scheme. Water scarcity in village Ubali in Kalmeshwar tehsil, desilting of Linga lake, deepening of wells in Ashtikala village, depletion in water level in village Sawali Bujruk, horizontal borewell in village Parsodi Vakil also were discussed by Sarpanchs with the Chief Minister.
After taking stock of the situation, Fadnavis asked the administration to accord top priority to supply of drinking water in rural areas and availability of fodder for livestock. Already, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has made available Rs 89 lakh to ensure that power supply to water supply schemes is not severed over bill default. Besides, a drought relief aid of Rs 53.98 crore has been distributed to 79,551 farmers in Nagpur district. As many as 46,695 farmers in the district have enrolled for crop insurance scheme. Under the scheme, 5,356 farmers have got compensation of Rs 7.22 crore out of total Rs 9.37 crore. Further, under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Yojana, total 80,551 have enrolled themselves. They have got Rs 4.80 crore aid with each one getting Rs 2,000/- as the first instalment. The aid distribution to remaining farmers is in progress.
The Chief Minister asked the farmers to make suggestions for tackling water scarcity, by sending messages on the given WhatsApp number. “The suggestions will be considered, and necessary measures will be taken on priority,” he assured. The Sarpanchs were happy that they got an opportunity to interact directly with the Chief Minister regarding drought situation in respective villages.
Ashwin Mudgal, District Collector, interacted with the Chief Minister via audio-bridge from Nagpur. Ankush Kedar, officiating Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad (ZP); Ram Joshi, Additional Municipal Commissioner; Ravindra Khajanji, Resident Deputy Collector; Sujata Gandhe, Deputy Collector; Rajendra Bhuyar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of ZP; Milind Shende, District Superintending Agriculture Officer; and senior officers of Water Resources Department, Rural Water Supply Department, Employment Guarantee Scheme Department, Agriculture Department, Horticulture Department, MSEDCL also were present on the occasion.