Opposition Congress-NCP walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday after the state government refused to declare drought in 5,500 villages in western Vidarbha despite a high court order.
Opposition Congress-NCP walked out of the Assembly on Tuesday after the state government refused to declare drought in 5,500 villages in western Vidarbha despite a high court order.
“The drought can be declared on four parameters given by the National Disaster Response Force. The areas have agriculture drought, but not hydraulic. There is technical difficulty in declaring drought in the villages and hence the Cabinet has decided to give '1,500 crore for the area. The court’s directives are only for eastern Vidarbha, but we have also taken care of western Vidarbha too,” chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in the Assembly.
However, Opposition leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Congress MLA Prithviraj Chavan, NCP group leader Jayant Patil remained adamant on their demand to declare the areas as drought-hit. “The villages have anewari less than 50 paise. The government should declare them drought affected,” Mr Vikhe-Patil said. Anewari is a measure to count crop based on which the drought situation is accessed.
Mr Chavan said, “The government is trying to save its money by not declaring the villages as drought-hit.”
