A team appointed by the Central government reached Nellore on Wednesday morning, to assess the drought situation in the district. They met District Collector M. Hari Narayanan at the S.R. Sankaran conference hall at the Collectorate.
Speaking to the media later, Mr. Narayanan stated that ₹13.35 crore is needed to support affected farmers across the ten drought zones. He urged the Central team to provide financial assistance while apprising them of the severe drought conditions in the district, leading to crop loss and damage, cattle deaths, and scant water supply.
He informed that Voletivaripalem, Kandukur, Lingasamudram, Sitaramapuram, Varikuntapadu, Kondapuram, Kaligiri, Duttalur, Marripadu and Kaluvai mandals in the district have been declared as ‘drought mandals’ by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Crop loss and damage
Rainfall in the ten drought mandals is less than normal, which has led to crop loss and damage. In Sitaramapuram, more than 50% of the crop was lost and in the remaining nine mandals, 30-40% of crops were lost. Nearly 7,156 farmers suffered crop damage like paddy, groundnut and millet in over 9,053.21 hectares across the ten mandals.
Mr. Narayanan has sought an input subsidy of ₹8.49 crore to support the drought-affected farmers. In Sitaramapuram alone, 148 farmers have lost their crops in 69 hectares, and an input subsidy of ₹9.25 lakh is required.
Cattle deaths
According to the Animal Husbandry Department, more than 7.42 lakh deaths of cattle and calves have been recorded in the district. As per National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rules, compensation for 5,302 dead cattle can be made with an estimated budget of ₹2.91 crore for animal feed and medicines across the ten mandals.
Officials from the agriculture, irrigation, RWS and animal husbandry departments explained the losses related to the respective fields to the team members. Mr. Narayanan asked the team to submit a report to the Union government following their visit, to grant funds to the district.
