BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government has declared 110 tehsils in 13 districts of the state as drought-hit.
According to principal secretary (revenue) Arun Pandey, out of the 110 drought-hit tehsils in 13 districts, seven are in Ashok Nagar, eight in Bhind,11 in Chhatarpur, seven in Damoh, five each in Gwalior and Indore, nine in Panna, 11 in Sagar, 10 in Satna, nine in Shivpuri, seven in Sidhi, 10 in Tikamgarh and 11 in Vidisha district.
More than half of the drought-hit tehsils are in the rain-starved Bundelkhand region’s five districts: Damoh, Chhatarpur, Tikamgarh, Panna and Sagar.
Farmers in Tikamgarh district had only recently protested under the opposition Congress's banner at the Tikamgarh district headquarters demanding that the district be declared drought-hit.
The police had used force the protesters allegedly resorted to stone pelting. Further, a group of around 40 farmers, who were returning to their villages after the protests were detained by the cops at Tikamgarh Dehat police station. They were allegedly stripped and thrashed.
The state government had ordered a probe into the incident and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) taking suo-moto cognizance of it had sought a detailed report from the state’s chief secretary and the DGP.
The state’s principal secretary (revenue) Arun Pandey said on Wednesday that a fresh review of the drought-hit tehsils in the state will be done on October 17.