Mumbai: Maharashtra received a phillip in its efforts to tackle severe drought conditions in the state as the Centre released another installment of Rs 2,160 crore to the state government for taking drought mitigation measures.
The Centre has allotted these funds from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced this on Tuesday.
“Thank you Hon PM @narendramodi ji for giving another installment of Rs 2160 crore towards drought mitigation measures from NDRF in the state of Maharashtra. Total assistance received so far is Rs 4248.59 crore,” Mr Fadnavis tweeted.
More than half of the state is reeling under severe drought and the state government has declared 141 talukas of the total 355 talukas as a drought prone hit in October last year.
Of these, 112 talukas have a severe drought, whereas 39 has moderate drought.
The Centre’s decision to release more money for drought mitigation measures comes a day after the Election Commission (EC) of India had relaxed the model code of conduct (MCC) for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
The chief minister had written to the Election Commission on April 30 asking it to relax the model code of conduct to enable undertake relief measures in
drought-affected areas of the state.
