 "Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets a delegation from Uttar Pradesh led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to discuss the drought situation (Photo: PTI)")
Chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka on Saturday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of the drought and drinking water situation in their states.
They also demanded a total of at least Rs 27,000 crore from the Centre to meet the crisis.
Read more from our special coverage on "DROUGHT"
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- PM to meet CMs of three drought-hit states
In the morning, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav met the prime minister and demanded financial assistance of Rs 11,000 crore, along with 10,000 water tankers and 5,000 tube wells to transport water to the parched villages of Bundelkhand and other regions.
Yadav, who has been engaged in a war of words with the central government over its offer of supplying water through trains, said the Centre and state governments need to work together to fight the crisis.
"Farmers have faced the onslaught of both hailstorm and drought... We want to increase the number of tankers to carry water to villagers," Yadav told reporters after an hour-long meeting.
He also demanded that the wages under Mahatma National Rural Employment Generation Scheme should be raised to Rs 300 per day as against the current Rs 100 a day in drought affected areas.
Yadav apprised Modi of the efforts undertaken for mitigation of problems faced by the people because of the droughts.
Uttar Pradesh had submitted a memorandum two days back for assistance during the 2015-16 rabi season. The prime minister had issued orders that assistance should be provided without delay.
The state shared the action plan for revival and restoration of 78,000 water bodies, such as tanks and ponds as well as 100,000 new water bodies and recharge structures.
About Rs 934.32 crore has been released to the state under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), after adjustments of the state balances.
This is in addition to Rs 506.25 crore released as central share of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for 2015-16. A further Rs 265.87 crore has been released as the first installment of SDRF for 2016-17.
In the afternoon, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Modi. He was followed by his Karnataka counterpart, Siddaramaiah, in the evening.
According to senior officials, Fadnavis has presented a supplementary demand for financial assistance as an additional 11,000 villages have been impacted by the drought.
The state has sought Rs 4,000 crore as assistance and has till date got around Rs 3,000 crore. "We discussed the drought situation with the prime minister and will soon make a supplementary demand for relief," Fadnavis told reporters. He said all farmers who defaulted on loans between 2012 and 2016 would be brought back into the institutional banking system. Help for this has been sought from the central government.
He has also demanded Rs 10,000 crore to fight drought in the long-term. It would be spent on such projects as irrigation.
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah sought an additional Rs 12,272 crore for improving supply of drinking water and fodder in the state.
Siddaramaiah informed Modi that the drought is severe this year as the crops worth Rs 15,635 crore have got damaged in 27 districts out of 30 during the kharif season of 2015-16 crop year, while crop worth Rs 7,000 crore is estimated to have been affected during the rabi season because of drought in 12 districts.
Siddaramaiah said, "Other states are given higher compensation. I have requested Modi to treat us equally as Karnataka's situation is bad next to Rajasthan....I have asked PM to be liberal in giving funds to the state."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre, states, local bodies, NGOs and citizens have to work together to resolve the problems posed by drought. He also called for focus on medium- and long-term solutions against drought.
Fadnavis apprised the prime minister about the progress of the Jalyukt-Shivar Abhiyan for water conservation and storage. He said the state had set a target of 51,500 farm ponds for 2016-17, which may be scaled up further, in view of the enthusiastic response from farmers.
SEEKING SUCCOUR
With rising temperatures across the country and monsoon still a few weeks away, the states have demanded central help to fight drought:
Karnataka
Demand : Rs 12,272 cr
Uttar Pradesh
Demand : Rs 11,000 cr
10,000 water tankers, 5,000 tubewells
Maharashtra
Demand : Rs 4,000 cr
