By IANS,
Hyderabad : Facing the spectre of first drought in six years, the Andhra Pradesh government is gearing up to tackle the situation and plans to come out with a contingency plan within a week.
Admitting that the situation is “serious” in some districts, Finance Minister K. Rosaiah Sunday said the government would come out with a contingency plan to tackle the situation. He was talking to reporters in Guntur.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy announced some contingency measures Saturday but a comprehensive plan would be released later as the authorities have still not lost hopes of improvement in seasonal conditions in the coming days.
The chief minister himself admitted that the situation was serious except in three districts in north coastal Andhra but he stopped short of declaring a drought.
The Rajasekhara Reddy-led government had good monsoon in each of the five years in its first term but the spectre of drought is looming large over the state in the first year of its second innings.
With about 50 percent of rainfall deficit except in three districts, the state is staring at a major drought and this has raised fears that the state’s economy, already affected by the global economic slowdown, might be badly hit.
The government is concerned that the livelihood of about 3.5 million agricultural labour and others in rural areas might be hit by the drought.
However, the government is likely to formally declare drought Aug 16, when the chief minister has convened a meeting with officials to review the seasonal conditions.
The rainfall deficit is as high as 45 percent in the backward Telangana region while it is 46 percent in Rayalaseema. The deficit is 36 percent in Andhra region including north coastal region, which received normal rainfall.
YSR, as the chief minister is popularly known, has still not lost hopes that rains in the next two weeks would improve the situation in 20 districts.
After a meeting Saturday, Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao said that it was not proper to declare drought in haste.
There were hardly any rains in most parts of the state during last two months, badly affecting the sowing operations. The depleting levels in major reservoirs have also created drinking water scarcity in several towns.
The minister said 80 percent of 1,128 ‘mandals’ (group of villages) received deficit or scanty rainfall till July 31. The chief minister has asked the disaster management department to release Rs.455 million to various departments for taking up contingency measures. This includes Rs.350 million for supplying seeds to farmers for raising alternative crops with 50 percent subsidy.
Concerned over the drinking water scarcity, the chief minister has directed officials to increase the frequency of the tankers supplying water.