OVER 85 per cent of Maharashtra’s talukas have been declared drought-hit after the State Government added 40 more regions to the list, taking the total affected sub-divisions to 305 out of 358, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Wednesday. Fadnavis also said, Rs 5,000 would be deposited in farmers’ bank accounts before Diwali to provide initial financial assistance ahead of the festival. The CM said that the decision to deposit Rs 5,000 in the accounts of farmers has been taken as full administrative and central assessment procedures take time and cannot legally conclude before Diwali. “Drought was initially declared in 265 talukas. After evaluating complaints, 40 additional talukas were added, bringing the total to 305 talukas. All 12 standard State drought relief concessions are now extended to these talukas,” Fadnavis told reporters after the Cabinet meet. Last month, the State Government declared drought in 265 talukas following rainfall deficit and announced relief measures, including crop loan restructuring, land revenue concessions, and power bill subsidies. The Chief Minister said, a supplementary Government Resolution (GR) has been issued adding 40 more talukas to the drought-hit list. Drought is always declared by November-end, and help is extended by December.

 

However, looking at the gravity of the situation, the notification of drought was issued in October, he stated. An authenticated list of an additional 3.5 lakh farmers has been processed to receive scheduled debt relief payments in parallel, the Chief Minister said. Outdated conditions from the 1992 resolution that restricted educational fee waivers for farmers’ children have been removed, making the fee exemption universal across affected areas, he pointed out. Fadnavis said, the District Central Co-operative (DCC) banks and credit societies have been issued strict warnings against coercive loan recoveries, harassment, or excessive pressure on farmers. Efforts are on to do the same with private banks and financial institutions. No coercive recovery or pressure is permitted for pending electricity bills, and agricultural pumps up to 7.5 horsepower receive free electricity under state policy. He said, groundwater levels in observation wells across Marathwada have fallen below 3 metres, which demands early deployment of water tankers in October-November. All deployed tankers will be strictly tracked via GPS. Nearly 16,000 illegal water connections were disconnected to preserve drinking supplies, with a zero-tolerance policy for unauthorised water extraction, the CM informed.