Dehra Dun, 16 Mar 2006
Fifty-six tehsils across 11 districts in Uttaranchal have been declared drought-hit areas. even as the state government asked the Centre to send a team to assess the situation.
“We have declared 56 tehsil as drought-affected areas,” said M C Joshi, Additional Secretary (Disaster Management) said today.
Chief Minister N D Tiwari has instructed all senior officials to provide immediate relief to the affected people. He has also spoken to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar in this regard.
Joshi said the government was preparing a memorandum to be submitted to the Centre regarding the details of the drought-situation in the state.
He said that Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, main areas of agriculture, have not been affected by drought-like conditions.
Joshi said all departments as well as district collectors have been asked to send report on the drought situation.
“In view of the drought-like conditions, we have submitted a Rs 16 crore proposal for installing new hand-pumps and supplying drinking water through tankers in Tehri and Almora districts,” Harsh Pati Uniyal, Chief General Manager of state ‘Jal Sansthan’, said.
MeT Office Director Anand Sharma said that rainfall in the past few days has provided some relief to farmers but added that the five month long dryspell must have done some damage to the crops.
News Source: http://www.newkerala.com
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