HYDERABAD: The inter-ministerial Central team leader and Union Agriculture department joint secretary Upama Chowdhry has assured Chief Minister K Rosaiah that they would make a reasonable and fair recommendation to the Centre on the help to the State to face the drought conditions.
She and her team met Chief Minister at the latter’s chambers here today and discussed various issues relating to their tour which had began today in the State to examine the drought effect in 14 districts.
They would visit Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Rangaredddy, Khammam, Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar, Chittoor, Prakasam, Guntur, Krishna, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
Chief Minister on his part requested the Central team to take a humanitarian and liberal view of the suffering of the people affected by drought while making recommendations to the Union Government.
Briefing the Central team, Rosaiah said that as on August 15 against a normal rainfall of 392.8 mm, the State had received 178.9 mm. Even at the end of the south-west monsoon period from June 1 to September 30 the deviation was 27 per cent less, he explained.
The State Government had declared 981 mandals, out of 1128 mandals, as drought-affected in the State.
As per the advanced estimates of Economics and Statistics Department the estimated loss of production in the food crops was very huge, the chief minister stated. For example, rice production which was 83.8 lakh metric tonnes in 2008, was estimated at 48.75 lakh metric tonnes in 2009, he explained.
He said the State Government wants the Centre to release Rs 9,053 crore under National Calamity Contingency Funds.