Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

18 delta mandals to figure in drought list

By Our Staff Reporter

ELURU JUNE 5. The Joint Collector, V. N. Vishnu, on Thursday said that the State Government had accepted proposals of the district administration for inclusion of 18 delta mandals in the list of drought-hit areas in the district.

Speaking at a general body meeting of the Zilla Parishad here, he said the administration had received directives from the Government to this effect on Wednesday night. He said that 133 villages falling under 18 mandals in the delta would be covered by the drought relief measures. Non-availability of irrigation water was taken as the criterion for inclusion of delta mandals in the list. With this, the list of drought-prone mandals has gone up to 40 of the total 44 mandals in the district.

Mr. Vishnu said 200 tonnes of rice would be sanctioned to each drought-hit delta mandal for distribution to wage-seekers under the Food-for-work programme. The district received 48,000 tonnes of rice this year for undertaking drought works, he said. Annavari certificates were issued in all the drought-hit areas, enabling rescheduling of loans obtained by the farmers from bankers, he added.

The ZPTC member from Kalla, Padmavati, sought inclusion of her mandal in the list as paddy fields in the area were badly hit by salinity of water sources. The Pedavegi mandal parishad president, Ch. Prabhakar, said banana and other horticultural crops did not figure in the annavari certificates issued in his upland area. As result, farmers of horticultural crops would be deprived of drought relief, he said.

V. Babu Rao of Deverapalli and D.V.S. Chowdary of Dwaraka Tirumala mandal sought a special relief package for farmers who raised horticultural crops in the drought-affected areas and suffered heavy losses.

Mr. Rao said farmers failed to get a fair deal for their produce in the market. Mr. Chowdary said farmers were suffering due to inferior quality of lemon, due to lack of adequate water.

Banana farmers had invested Rs. 30,000 per acre but the severe drought had completely damaged the crop, he said while requesting the Government to come to the rescue of such farmers.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Cabinet okays sops proposed at Mahanadu
• Southern Tourism Ministers' meet
• Mango crop hit by excessive heat
• 18 delta mandals to figure in drought list
• A battle against odds to save their baby
• Fruits of 'Velugu' should reach the poor: ZP chief
• TRS relay fast for Singoor waters enters second day
• Plea to extend trains up to Nizamabad
• Bungling at exam centre costs student dearly
• Villagers thrash robbers
• PRTU wants schools to reopen on July 1
• Decked-up Kuppam awaits Kalam
• ICET key soon: SVU
• PW naxals blast police station in Anantapur
• Cong. to expose TDP 'misrule': Rosaiah

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu