A delegation of the All-Jammu and Kashmir Kisan Union called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today and presented a memorandum of their demands.

Switch From Rain-Fed Crops To Cash Crops

Hiware Bazar: For those who wonder if Maharashtra can tide over the current drought situation, Hiware Bazar, with its ‘yes we can’ spirit, is the answer. Notwithstanding the fact that Ahmednagar is facing its worst drought since Independence, Hiware Bazar in the same district has no water scarcity.
It’s not that Nature favoured Hiware Bazar with a special bounty. In fact, the village had received a normal rainfall of 199 mm last year, just like most regions that are hit by water scarcity today. But the 1,300 residents of Hiware Bazar scripted their destiny differently.

Chandy, team to put the demand before Prime Minister

Kerala, facing a searing drought, will urge the Centre to sanction it a special Rs. 4,000-crore relief package. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Cabinet colleagues will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the request during their visit to Delhi on Monday and Tuesday.

Relief to be disbursed immediately through PAC societies.

Adoor Prakash submits memorandum to Sharad Pawar

The State government has submitted a memorandum to Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar seeking a special package of Rs.7,888 crore to help the State tide over the prevalent drought conditions. The government had declared the entire State drought-hit on December 19, following which a series of discussions were held at the district level under the leadership Ministers designated to look after each district. The memorandum, prepared on the basis of ground-level assessment, sought Rs.5,810 crore as compensation for crop loss.

Mumbai: Maharashtra governor K Sankaranarayanan has urged the Centre to restructure and prioritize its assistance for crucial irrigation projects under the accelerated irrigation benefit programme so that they could be completed on time.

“Central assistance is received in the last quarter of the financial year. This hampers the progress of the projects. Funds are released late because of the long procedure of submitting continuation proposals for each project.

Hopes Pinned On Central Aid

Mumbai:The summer is yet to set in, but 125-odd tehsils in 15 districts across the state are already experiencing one of the worst water scarcity situations in recent years. “Our debt burden has already crossed Rs 2.56 lakh crore. We are passing through a critical period, since we will require huge funds to tackle the situation. We will require an additional Rs 3,000 crore to tackle the situation. If the Centre does not come to our rescue, it will be bad for us,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Friday.

Expressing protest against non-inclusion of Pudukottai district during the recent survey by a team of ministers in samba crop-affected districts, farmers staged a walk-out from farmers’ grievances day meeting here on Thursday.

As soon as C. Manoharan, Collector, came to the meeting hall and started explaining the recommendation by the district administration for certain relief package for the drought-prone zones, a group of farmers were up on their feet, lodging their protest and anguish.

The Union government has sanctioned a Rs 402-crore contingency plan, under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, to tide over the water crisis in the State.

The move follows recommendations by task forces of various districts, said Revenue Secretary (disaster management) Tushar Girinath, here on Tuesday. He told a press conference that the funds will be utilised for all the drought-prone districts in the State. While Mysore district gets Rs 13.41 crore, Chamarajanagar will receive Rs 21 crore.

Karnataka, which has been desperately waiting for release of funds from the Centre under drought relief for 2012, stands the risk of not receiving any grants at all.

This is the fear harboured by the Revenue Department (Disaster Management), which has sought Rs 11,146 crore from the Centre under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) to carry out drought relief works chalked out for 2012. The department apprehends that if the High-Level Committee headed by the Prime Minister fails to set aside an amount, before the Central budget, the State stands to lose all.

Pages