An inter-ministerial Central team has assessed the damage caused by drought to kharif crops in western Rajasthan as part of an exercise for releasing financial assistance for mitigating the impact of drought. The team members visited agricultural fields and interacted with farmers and cattle rearers in Jaisalmer district.
The 10-member team comprised Central Water Commission’s Director H.S. Sengar, NITI Aayog’s Assistant Director Shivcharan Meena and other officials. The team looked into the scope for opening fodder depots for the livestock in the drought-affected region and laid emphasis on making proper arrangements for supply of drinking water to the villagers.
The farmers in Bhopa village told the team members that the kharif crops, sown in the third week of July last year, were completely damaged because of lack of rains for 45 days. The drinking water was procured from tankers, which involved a huge expenditure, while the cattle was finding it difficult to survive, they said.
Jaisalmer Collector Pratibha Singh said about 1.90 lakh farmers in the district had been adversely affected by the paucity of rains, while the administration had sent a proposal for allocation of ₹242.72 crore to the State government for extending relief to them. Ms. Singh said 628 of the 859 villages could be categorised as scarcity-hit.
The team members obtained information about the drought situation in each block of the district at a meeting with the officials and elected representatives. Ms. Singh gave instructions to the officials to make arrangements for supply of drinking water to the villages after getting a contingency plan approved for transport of water.
