CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan declares 13 districts in Madhya Pradesh as drought-hit

Apart from 13 districts, 12 tehsils from other districts have also been declared drought affected.

Thirteen districts in Madhya Pradesh have been declared drought-hit this year. These include Sidhi, Vidisha, Indore, Panna, Sagar, Satna, Shivpuri, Tikamgarh, Bhind, Ashohnagar, Damoh, Chhatarpur and Gwalior.

Rajesh Rajora, principal secretary, agriculture department, told HT that chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made this announcement in Bhopal on Wednesday.

Rajora said the state government will continue to collect data from the tehsils from five to six central agencies and accordingly review the list of the drought-hit areas in the next meeting of the drought monitoring committee.

“We have to send the complete list of the drought-hit areas to the Central government by October 30,” he said.

Apart from 13 districts, 12 tehsils from other districts have also been declared drought affected, he said.

State government has been worried over the scanty rainfall this year. In the Krishi cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan last month, he directed officials to prepare short term emergency schemes for areas being affected by scanty rainfall as well as no rainfall.

Chouhan stressed that proper arrangements should be made for water storage after assessing the water requirement for irrigation and drinking.