E-Paper
11 talukas declared ‘drought prone’ in Pune district
Junnar, Ambegaon, Khed, Maval, Mulshi, Velhe, Bhor, Haveli, Purandar, Indapur, Daund, Baramati and Shirur have been declared drought prone
With the drought situation in Maharashtra worsening day by day, the Pune district administration, too, has declared as many as 11 talukas in Pune district as ‘drought prone’.
Of the 13 talukas in Pune district including Junnar, Ambegaon, Khed, Maval, Mulshi, Velhe, Bhor, Haveli, Purandar, Indapur, Daund, Baramati and Shirur, all except Mulshi and Velhe talukas have been declared as drought prone. While the Baramati and Purandar talukas have been declared as fully drought prone, Indapur, Shirur and Daund talukas have been declared as partially drought prone as per the central government’s criteria.
Rajesh Deshmukh, Pune district collector, said, “The state government has included revenue boards in all other talukas except Mulshi and Velhe in the drought list of 31 revenue boards in the district. Therefore, 11 talukas of the district have been declared drought prone.”
Villages that received less than 75% rainfall have been included as drought prone.
Santosh Dongare, a retired official from the state irrigation department and a drought expert, said, “This year there has been less rain across the state and in most of the talukas, the rainfall has been less than 75%. So, it has adversely impacted farmers as well as other sectors in villages in the state. So, the process to declare talukas as drought prone by the state government has been started by carrying out surveys.”
Whereas farmers from these drought prone talukas are now a worried lot.
Mahadev Jodhe, a farmer from Purandar taluka, said, “We had grown fruits and some vegetables this year but due to less rain this monsoon, nearly 80% of our farms have been damaged. Now we are worried about how to resume farming if we are not provided help from the government.”
