The Hindu Business Line : Andhra Pradesh declares 21 districts drought-hit

Factoring deficit rainfall impacting kharif operations and adverse seasonal conditions, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Wednesday declared 971 revenue mandals spread over 21 districts of the State as drought-affected.

In his first major decision since taking over as the Chief Minister, Mr Rosaiah said that this move follows requests by district collectors to declare drought in various parts of the State.

Exceptions

Only Hyderabad and Srikakulam have been left out of the districts that have been drought hit. Srikakulam was left out due to code of conduct factoring the election process for the Tekkali Assembly is now underway.

Crop loans

The Chief Minister said that the delay in announcement of drought situation was due to fears that banks would stop lending money to the farm sector. As of now, Rs 13,600 crore has been disbursed by the banks as against a target of Rs 14,500 crore.

With the Government decision on drought situation, the farmers whose crops have been damaged by more than 50 per cent would be eligible for supply of inputs on subsidy wherever the crop was not insured. In addition, they would be entitled for rescheduling of crop loans secured from banks.

As a part of State Government’s efforts to mitigate the problem, it has initiated several relief measures.

This includes a contingency plan for Rs 417 crore prepared by the agriculture department for taking up alternative crops such as red gram.

The horticulture department, too, has formulated a contingency plan for Rs 142 crore for raising vegetables, rejuvenation of sweet lime crop and supply of seeds.

The Animal Husbandry Department has supplied about 27,000 quintals of fodder seed for cultivation of fodder and setting up of cattle camps with a total outlay of Rs 350 crore.

A drought grievance redressal call centre is operational round-the-clock with a toll free No 1100 for BSNL users and 1800-425-1100 for mobile users.

The State may seek about Rs.4,000 crore to tide over the current situation.

ESSENTIAL COMMODITIES

The Chief Minister directed officials to ensure that the prices of essential commodities are brought down through market intervention and check hoarders from blackmarketing.

He also revamped the Food Advisory Committee and Rice Monitoring Committees to track the price movement.

A meeting of rice and dal millers would be convened to ensure that the prices are kept under check.

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PNB to reschedule loans for drought-hit

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